Gian Maria Campedelli is a Research Scientist at Fondazione Bruno Kessler and an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento, Italy. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminology from Università Cattolica in Milan in 2020 and received the Early Career Award from the European Society of Criminology in 2023. His research focuses on developing computational methods to study complex criminal phenomena. His interests include organized crime, corruption, violence, urban crime, and the risks associated with the emerging collective behavior of AI agents. He has published extensively in high-profile journals, including Science, and his work has been featured in outlets such as the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Economist, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.
Organized crime undermines democracy and economic development across the globe. According to a recent report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 80% of the world’s population lives in countries with a high presence of criminal organizations. When these organizations grow through corruption, fighting them becomes even more difficult.
In this talk, computational criminologist Gian Maria Campedelli introduces a new approach that uses open data and machine learning to predict where—and when—criminal organizations in Italy are likely to infiltrate local governments. By revealing both the promises and the pitfalls of applying AI to the fight against corruption and organized crime, he invites us to imagine how modern technologies can empower citizens and help build a safer, fairer society.