AI can help curb corruption

Artificial intelligence (AI) could help crack down on corruption in the Philippines, but weak institutions and risks of misuse remain major obstacles, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said.

In its latest Economic Policy Monitor, the state-run think tank said AI can be trained to detect illicit financial flows, identify rigged bidding in public procurement and detect networks of corrupt actors.

“AI should not be considered a replacement for human judgment but rather a tool that assists in its exercise,” PIDS said.

“While AI is not a cure-all, it presents a powerful lever to enhance the effectiveness of anticorruption efforts in the Philippines,” it added.

AI can also be integrated into blockchain technology. PIDS said that it can detect anomalies, which makes tampering more difficult and plunder easier to trace.

The Senate recently passed the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability Act. The bill seeks to establish a National Budget Blockchain System.

Under the proposed law, budget documents will be stored in a shared database across government agencies. This enables the public to record and monitor transactions and fund releases.

Even so, PIDS warned that AI initiatives risk becoming unsustainable if the government lacks the capacity to operate and maintain the systems and if clear legal and ethical safeguards are not in place.

“Developing countries, such as the Philippines, face a complex mix of challenges in using AI to combat corruption, ranging from inadequate data systems and low technical capacity to risks of bias and misuse,” PIDS wrote.

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“AI tools used in anticorruption efforts risk misuse or manipulation. Moreover, political and economic dynamics may play a decisive role, especially when powerful elites benefiting from existing corrupt systems resist technologies that expose their networks or threaten their influence,” it added.

The Philippines recently ranked 49th out of 195 countries in the Government AI Readiness Index prepared by Oxford Insights. The country scored 57.76—above the regional average of 49.11 and the global average of 41.4.

However, it scored low in AI infrastructure and development.

As it is, PIDS noted that the Philippines has “consistently displayed a low level of maturity or readiness in the iterations of this index.”