Christopher Law Publishes Dissertation on Ethical AI Hiring in Financial Services

Open-access research introduces a framework to help leaders evaluate where AI should support decisions—and where human judgment must remain central.

COLUMBIA, SC, UNITED STATES, October 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Christopher Law, a financial services and technology leader and author of the forthcoming book Authentic Intelligence: A Leader’s Guide to Ethical AI, has published his doctoral dissertation, Authentic Intelligence: An Ethical Framework for AI Hiring in Financial Services. The dissertation is available through OhioLINK’s Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.

Completed at Muskingum University and successfully defended in September 2026, the dissertation addresses a practical leadership challenge: how should organizations decide what authority to give AI in hiring?

The research develops the Authentic Intelligence Model (AIM), a framework for examining AI decisions through rights, reasons, and results. It considers responsibilities at the individual, professional, and institutional levels, helping leaders connect ethical principles to decisions about adoption, oversight, and accountability.

“An organization can automate a decision without resolving who is responsible for it,” Law said. “I wanted to give leaders a practical way to ask what AI should be allowed to decide, what needs human judgment, and what they should be able to explain to the people affected.”

AIM begins by distinguishing administrative assistance, decision support, and decision automation. It asks leaders to examine whether a system narrows the choices available to a person or substitutes for that person’s judgment. The framework also addresses vendor governance and documentation, with possible outcomes ranging from proceeding under defined conditions to redesigning or declining a proposed use.

Although the dissertation focuses on hiring in financial services, it raises questions relevant to leaders evaluating AI in other consequential organizational decisions. Its contribution is an ethical decision framework rather than a claim that adopting the framework guarantees fair outcomes.

Law’s forthcoming book brings these leadership questions to a broader audience. His website also provides public AIM resources and a free, experimental companion, Ask Authentic Intelligence, for exploring ethical AI dilemmas.

Read the dissertation through OhioLINK, or explore the research and related resources at authenticintelligencebook.com/research.

About Christopher Law

Christopher Law is a Columbia, South Carolina–based financial services and technology leader whose work focuses on digital experiences, AI, and ethical organizational leadership. He is the author of the forthcoming Authentic Intelligence: A Leader’s Guide to Ethical AI. This research and announcement reflect his personal work and views, not those of his employer.

Christopher Law
Authentic Intelligence
+1 352-262-6243
christopher@authenticintelligencebook.com