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Forbes Brasil created a composite ‘person’ based on multiple white-collar criminals to draw attention to corruption issues in the country. Named Ric Brasil, the AI-created figure has been allotted the number eight slot in the magazine’s annual billionaire list, based on the collective USD 61 billion annual cost of corruption in the country. Created by tech companies Nexo and Notan for the magazine’s April edition, Ric Brasil’s features emerged by combining the profiles of corrupt individuals named in the media, investigations and books.

Exposé after exposé has driven Brazil's corruption ranking to an all-time high. However, processing the data around corruption isn’t easy, and the media doesn’t always give an accurate representation. Not in the sense of ‘fake news!’ but simply by favoring stories that capture readers’ attention, even if that leads to negative criminal stereotypes around race. Instead, Ric Brasil is white and seemingly respectable in a suit and tie.

This initiative signals a powerful emerging new direction for anyone applying AI. Could you use it to expose – and even give a human face to – previously hard-to-see truths? Your customers want to be good! How might this example inspire you to help them? Data-driven transparency will be a key weapon for consumers in their pursuit of better ethical behavior, just as it has been when striving for physical and mental wellbeing.