Legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making in public governance

European public administration increasingly relies on personal data to deliver their public services, which implies that they must comply with the rules contained in the General Data Protection Regulation. These rules are especially important in the advent of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which increase the public administration’s capability to make informed decisions in order to provide public services and to support their decision-making. This chapter presents the legal framework within which these AI technologies can be used, namely data protection rules and core principles of administrative law. Several key takeaways are given. First, data subjects’ rights must be respected (right to information, access, erasure, not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing). Those rights impact the design of the technologies used by public administrations and have concrete implications. Moreover, the legal framework aims to give more control to the citizens and keep them at the centre. In this regard, it is highly reassuring to see that the European Commission has proposed the adoption of an AI Act. The chapter analyses this proposal, keeping in mind the use of new technologies by public administrations in the fight against fraud.