Governance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Exploring the Impact on Transparency, Accountability and Rule of Law

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has diverse potentials. The increasing use of AI makes it imperative to examine its impact on an important societal aspect — Governance. The paper uses three UN-proposed indicators of good governance: i. transparency, ii. accountability and iii. rule of law to assess the potential impact of AI in future governance. The research uses qualitative research design based on open-ended semi-structured interviews with AI experts to study the expert opinion on the subject. The data has been analysed through thematic analysis to capture the risks and opportunities associated with AI integration in governance. The paper’s findings reveal that the employment of AI in governance is going to considerably impact transparency, accountability and the rule of law. This becomes increasingly concerning for non-democratic contexts. There is a consensus that Explainable AI (XAI) could, to a certain degree, mitigate the dangers associated with the technology in the domain of governance by yielding a positive impact on the concerned indicators of governance. The paper proposes that while AI integration may become imperative for policymakers in the future, it is equally important to prioritise transparency, accountability and rule of law to ensure good governance.