A new artificial intelligence can reveal illegal price fixing. The program developed by the University of Freiburg and the Competition Commission (Weko) showed a success rate of more than 90 percent in tests.
The algorithm now assists authorities in detecting and combating illegal collusion in public procurement, the University of Freiburg (Unifr) announced on Thursday.
AI learns from known cases
To do this, the researchers trained an artificial intelligence-based program with historical data that includes both proven price-fixing and collusion-free tenders.
Price fixing often leaves certain patterns or anomalies in the prices offered, as the University of Freiburg explains in the statement. Through the learning process with the available data, the artificial intelligence recognizes these patterns and can distinguish between agreements and normal competition.
In initial tests, the method correctly identified 19 out of 20 companies as cartel members or competitors, according to results published in the “International Journal of Industrial Organization.”
Sources
- unifr.ch: Discover cartels using artificial intelligence
(dsc/sda)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
