Artificial intelligence, “secret” bank accounts, much more restricted plots: the way of making corruption and fighting it has changed a lot for fifteen years, according to the new boss of the UPAC, Vincent Richer.
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Fini the cash
The cash that disappears in the toilet, as in the time of the ex-mayor of Laval, Gilles Vaillancourt, seems to belong to another era.
“Now the ploys have been refined. Brown envelopes and silver briefcases, that’s no longer what we see. It’s much more refined, it goes into accounts that are secret, ”he describes.
As a result, surveys are much more complex, according to him.
Gilles Vaillancourt
Photo d’archives, MARTIN ALARIE
Fewer people involved
Vincent Richer believes that the number of people involved in each corruption scheme is “increasingly limited”.
“Before, there were a lot of people who were aware of what was going on. Now it is more between two people or in a very small group. So it’s more difficult to go and break into and [de] Update corruption stratagems. “
Artificial intelligence at the rescue
The UPAC still uses artificial intelligence very little, but its new boss wants it to change quickly.
He dreams that his teams use artificial intelligence tools to “make a meta-analysis of public contracts” and “detect problems”.
“Quebec is a hub in artificial intelligence. There are academics who work hard in there. So you have to take advantage of it. “
“On the other hand, there are also criminals that will use this tool to commit crimes,” said Mr. Richer.
