Artificial Intelligence in Italian Public Administration. Challenges, case studies and regulatory perspectives

In Italy, the employment of AI for decision-making in the context of administrative procedures is increasingly common, being based on the claimed gains in efficiency and neutrality. Local and central public administrations use AI to streamline not only their services to citizens, but also their supervisory activity, eg, in the detection of money laundering or in their controls against tax evasion. However, to date, the use of AI by Public Administrations in Italy is only recognised at the level of policy strategies or, at most, in highly delimited regulatory interventions, while a specific regulatory framework is still missing. Moreover, although robotic decision-making has repeatedly been the subject of administrative case law, conflicting interpretations have taken place over the past few years. Starting from these assumptions, the paper aims at analysing the most relevant experiences of AI implementation by Italian Public Administrations, in order to highlight the main legal issues related to them and test their impact on the fundamental principles of administrative action. This analysis is intended to put forward some reflections on the prospects of regulating the application of AI in Public Administrations, especially for decision-making.