AI as Anti-Corruption Technology : Insights from Public Procurement Across the EU

This book explores how AI is innovating anti-corruption efforts across the European Union, focusing on the highly digitalised yet corruption-prone sector of public procurement.

AI as Anti-Corruption Technology intends to answer the questions: What drives and what hinders public organisations to experiment with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tackle corruption? How do they navigate this terrain, and what dilemmas arise? This book explores how AI is innovating anti-corruption efforts across the European Union, focusing on the highly digitalised yet corruption-prone sector of public procurement. As corruption becomes more complex, traditional anti-corruption approaches often fall short. In response, public authorities are turning to AI to process vast data, increase transparency, and reduce discretion, though not without risks. Yet, evidence on real-world applications remains limited. This book fills this gap with rich empirical insights from Italy, Germany, Estonia, and Cyprus, offering a comparative view of diverse corruption, digital government, and public procurement contexts. Drawing from interviews with public officials, data scientists, and experts, the book sheds light on actual AI-based applications in anti-corruption, their contexts of design and adoption, and their enablers and roadblocks. It also critically reflects on their implications, from corruption risks in AI procurement to the strategic (non)disclosure of these tools. Bridging public administration, digital governance, and critical AI studies, this book equips readers, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working at the intersection of digital innovation, the public sector, and the fight against corruption with practical knowledge and analytical tools to understand and reflect on AI-driven anti-corruption efforts.