Carolina Gerli is a postdoctoral researcher in the Human Understanding of Machines and Algorithms lab. Her research explores the complex interplay between technology and public governance, with a particular focus on how AI can be leveraged to prevent and counter corruption and enhance transparency and accountability more broadly.
As a postdoctoral researcher, Carolina contributes to the EU-funded Horizon project RESPOND (Grant Agreement No 101132405). The project aims to understand contemporary forms of political corruption, investigate the dual role of digital technologies in enabling and combating it, assess its impact on democratic participation, and co-create new anti-corruption tools.
Previously, Carolina obtained her PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Bologna, Italy. Her thesis, awarded cum laude, explored the use of AI in anti-corruption in public organisations, focusing on public procurement applications within the EU. Employing qualitative methods, she conducted interviews across Italy, Germany, Estonia, and Cyprus with public officials, data scientists, IT developers, and domain experts to examine how, why, and with what implications public organisations engage with AI in this domain.
Her research agenda is strongly informed by her professional background. Prior to academia, Carolina worked in Italy as a consultant in government digital transformation at PwC Italy, gaining first-hand experience at the intersection of technology and public governance.
