Mastercard's Gen AI Tool for Small Businesses Limits Bias – Adweek
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Mastercard developed an inclusive generative AI chatbot catering to the diverse entrepreneurial needs of small and midsized businesses.
People can ask Mastercard Small Business AI an array of questions in English and Spanish. Inquiries can span topics around crafting a business plan, exploring available grants for SMBs, guidance on the application process for those grants, strategies for fostering employee culture, developing marketing and advertising plans, or insights on locating investors or acquiring new customers.
“Small businesses have to fend for themselves and learn on their own,” said Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer. “When gen AI came in, we found a fantastic opportunity where we can take our support to small businesses and give them mentorship via a tool that can be easily used.”
As more gen-AI-based tools flood the market, concerns about the narrow data these models can be trained on leading to biases and a language gap are growing for business leaders, putting them at risk of alienating audiences. This leads to multicultural users of AI not getting the responses they need from many tools.
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Mastercard Small Business AI is trained on Mastercard’s content repository, including resources like Digital Doors (which helps small business owners improve their online presence), as well as on licensed business data from various media networks, including Blavity Media Group, Group Black, Newsweek and Spanish-language media company TelevisaUnivision.
The chatbot uses collective data from Group Black, including Pod Digital Media, Black Women Talk Tech and ReachTV. The content then generated by the chatbot is notably relevant and relatively free of bias, said Rajamannar.
“Businesses looking for more centralized locations to source specific content such as podcasts, articles and interviews could benefit from more of a one-stop-shop approach for tools that supply the content they need,” said Rakia Reynolds, founder and executive officer of Skai Blue Media.
Over the past two decades, SMBs have consistently contributed approximately 40% to the GDP (gross domestic product) of the U.S., according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, translating into trillions of dollars in economic activity.
Often, it’s multicultural and minority founders who are the ones strapped for resources. The average startup for a white male founder received $210 million in total funding. In comparison, the average startup of an underrepresented founder received just 43% of that—$91.1 million, according to a June 2023 report by McKinsey & Co.
“We all know that raising capital for multicultural and minority founders is different,” said Bonin Bough, chief strategy officer and co-founder of Group Black. “Mastercard has found a unique area, and what they’ve created—with help from us to bring partners to participate in providing learning data—makes sure that this is an unbiased chatbot.”
Built using OpenAI’s GPT4, Mastercard Small Business AI is accessible to everyone. The company is exploring whether to provide free access to the tool or to introduce subscription-based models for additional content.
Currently in its developmental stage, the AI tool will launch in the U.S. later this year, with plans for international expansion. Mastercard intends to forge more partnerships to drive local relevance as the tool gains global traction. Additional languages are expected to be included. The company wouldn’t share specific details.
“Our hope is that these collective efforts shape a more equitable world for future generations,” said Bough, “reducing the exclusion felt by numerous minorities and empowering them with the resources needed to succeed.”
Trishla is an Adweek staff reporter covering tech policy.
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