news 31.01.2025

Open data

Takeaways on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in tackling environmental crimes and corruption

Speakers: Romi Sigsworth, Research Consultant working at the Institute for Security Studies' Enhancing Africa's Response to Transnational Organised Crime (ENACT) Project ; Fernanda Odilla, Lecturer at the University of Bologna in Italy.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have the capacity to analyze vast and complex data sets, enabling the identification of patterns in behaviour and activities associated with criminal and illicit activities. This is critical in combating organized environmental crime. The speakers shared the use of these tools to address organised crime in Africa as well as other AI innovations designed to tackle corruption and illegal activities in Brazil.

Some of the key takeaways of the session are:

  • Cost and Resource Savings: Policing environmental crimes is resource-intensive, but AI has the potential to significantly reduce time and costs, making enforcement efforts more efficient. Some examples from Africa were shared by Romi Sigsworth and available here.

  • Challenges with Data Accessibility: The effectiveness of AI in addressing environmental crimes is hindered by challenges such as inaccessible, scattered, unstructured, and unreliable data. These issues highlight the need for governments to prioritize collecting large, localized, and relevant data sets.

  • Ethical and Practical Limitations: While AI offers immense opportunities, concerns around the ethical use of these technologies—such as bias, opacity, and a lack of proper evaluation metrics—must be addressed to ensure their fair and effective application in anti-corruption and environmental crime prevention efforts.

  • Citizen Engagement and Transparency: Encouraging public participation in anti-corruption efforts remains a challenge. However, anti-corruption technologies can enhance transparency, fostering greater trust, accountability, and improved outcomes.

The full recording of the presentation from the 28 January 2025 Open Data working group meeting is available here: