<scp>AI</scp> Public Value Creation: Data Encoding, Aggregation, and Algorithmic Computation

2026/06/08 by Antonio Cordella, Francesco Gualdi · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Computer Science · #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI #E-Government and Public Services #COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing

paper · doi:10.1111/padm.70071

openalex publication_date 2026/06/08 · openalex created_date 2026/06/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

ABSTRACT AI systems in public administration challenge the premise that value creation arises from managers' strategic mediation among the vertices of Moore's strategic triangle: Public value, legitimacy, and operational capacity. AI imposes new logics that reshape vertices and their interaction dynamics. Critically, these transformations become entrenched through what we term algorithmic public value lock‐in: the crystallization of contingent value definitions into durable technical infrastructures resistant to democratic revision. Examining Peru's SISFOH, an algorithmic welfare‐targeting system, we reveal three interconnected shifts: data management recasts legitimacy as computational objectivity; standardized classifications redefine public value in narrow, quantifiable terms; and algorithmic processing transforms operational capacity from adaptive discretion to rigid execution. Together, these shifts produce lock‐in effects that potentially insulate public value creation from political negotiation.

Citations

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Discussions

• "AI Public Value Creation: Data Encoding, Aggregation, and Algorithmic Computation" by Antonio Cordella & Francesco Gualdi finds that AI systems lock public values into technical infrastructures, maki [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]