Artificial Intelligence: The Next Generation Anti-Corruption Technology

AI now helps curb corruption through anti-corruption technology.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a useful weapon in the fight against corruption. Its capacity to handle huge data is unrivaled, as is its ability to spot abnormalities or trends, such as in financial transaction data. Some of the ways AI is used in society have skeptics, who fear a society that is more monitored, putting privacy and individual freedom in danger. Let’s get into the topic in more detail.  

AI as an Anti-corruption Tool

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to technologies that allow machines to simulate human intelligence in order to tackle complicated issues. On the one hand, there are techniques in which an algorithm, or a “recipe” for dealing with a given set of inputs, directs the computer process that decides or recommends a result. Machine learning (ML) is a subdomain of this area, in which many approaches of varying degrees of complexity are used to tackle diverse issues. Some of these methods require a dataset in order to ‘train’ the algorithm on how to deal with the data. The datasets used to ride the algorithm are often the source of algorithmic bias. Without any supervision, certain systems ‘learn’ how to produce the best possible result. Artificial neural networks are built in the same way as our brain is. Millions of computations are done and communicated between the network’s nodes, resulting in a level of complexity that is difficult to comprehend. The term “black box problem” describes calculations in sophisticated algorithms that are not transparent. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) or superintelligence, which are more sophisticated imitations of human intelligence, remain in the future and are not the subject of this text. We’re also not going to talk about robotics.  

High Hopes for The Future

Development organizations express optimism about the benefits of new technologies, as well as some skepticism about the drawbacks. Some designs include new, digitized procedures that eliminate previously corruptible jobs. Other initiatives use a more “direct” approach to uncovering previously concealed transactions or perpetrators of fraud. In many situations, the basis on which AI applications are built is digitized interactions between society and its inhabitants. Reconfiguring business or governance processes to allow for automation and AI help may, in some circumstances, minimize the risk of fraudulent activity.  

Using AI to Uncover Corruption and Fraud

Artificial intelligence, according to Oxford Insights, is the “next step in anti-corruption,” partially because of its capacity to uncover patterns in datasets that are too vast for people to handle. Humans may focus on specifics and follow up on suspected abuse, fraud, or corruption by using AI to discover components of interest. Mexico is an example of a country where artificial intelligence alone may not be enough to win the war. The telecommunications industry is one of several segments of the Mexican economy that has witnessed improvement. Telecom was once dominated by a single company, but it is now open to competition. As a result, the cost of connectivity has decreased significantly, and the government is currently preparing for its largest investment ever. By 2024, the objective is to have a 4G mobile connection available to more than 90% of the population. In a society moving toward digital state services, the affordable connection is critical. The next stage is for the country to establish an AI strategy. The next national AI strategy will include initiatives such as striving toward AI-based solutions to offer government services for less money or introducing AI-driven smart procurement. In brief, Mexico aspires to be one of the world’s first 10 countries to adopt a national AI policy.  

Digital Reports on Development Aid

Corruption and fraud in donor holdings are one problem where new technology might help speed up investigations or make suspicious occurrences easier to identify. The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATIOpenAid)’s idea has been around for a long and has been implemented by a number of countries. Transactions and reporting must be synchronized for AI technologies to be effective. Projects spanning several nations, including different languages, currencies, or reporting methods may require some ‘cleaning’ before an AI program can monitor effectively enough to detect potential anomalies with a satisfactory degree of precision. The following sample comes from a fully digitized donor organization with a well-established structure. Even yet, the reports must be reviewed by humans before being disseminated. To help with this, a machine learning program was built.  

Taking up The Problem of Getting Solid Data

For the AI revolution to materialize, digitization is required. Improving the volume and quality of the data from diverse areas of society is one cross-national goal for IBM and the corporation’s more than 24 regional offices in Africa. A major problem is the absence of trustworthy and consistent data, such as from off-grid economies. To assist this digitization initiative, IBM is using resources from its regular business operations.  

Conclusion

There are reasons to be concerned about biased outcomes if and when AI is used in governance and decision-making to assist or replace existing services. Adverse side effects of these decision-making systems might be caused by bias in the data for training the AI or in the algorithm’s architecture. The black box problem refers to opaque algorithms and, as a result, opaque decision-making systems. The ability to explain necessitates the development of transparent algorithms or techniques capable of testing or contesting judgments. Several organizations, including the European Union, have created ethical standards for the design, implementation, and promotion of AI trust, emphasizing that a trustworthy AI should be legal, ethical, and resilient. When technology advances faster than regulation, challenges arise because it may function in uncontrolled, global settings.