Research published in the International Journal of Technology Policy and Law sets out to answer the question: Can artificial intelligence (AI) replace whistle-blowers in the business sector?

Kafteranis Dimitrios in the Faculty of Law at the University of Luxembourg, suggests that major technological developments in recent years have changed significantly the way we business and at the same time they have created new ways for insiders to expose unethical behavior in those businesses. Evidence of wrongdoing can be accrued digitally very quickly and modern communication tools allow for the almost instantaneous dissemination of such information to regulatory authorities, the media, and the public.

The emergence of so-called artificial intelligence and machine learning also now means that the extraction of evidence of wrongdoing might be automated. This could remove the human whistleblower from the equation allowing problems to be flagged far more effectively and efficiently without making any one individual a target for remonstrations from those involved in the wrongdoing. This could apply equally to exposure to management within a company or beyond the company when it is the management or the company itself that is involved in the wrongdoing.

The research as it stands suggests that artificial whistleblowing is not credible but could be used to assist a human whistleblower in reporting misdemeanors at various levels to the appropriate authority.

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More information: Kafteranis Dimitrios. Can artificial intelligence replace whistle-blowers in the business sector, International Journal of Technology Policy and Law (2020). DOI: 10.1504/IJTPL.2019.104948