India, Feb. 21 -- In recent years, there has been great enthusiasm around the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform society, from improving medical diagnoses to reducing learning gaps. Tax authorities around the world have also joined this hype and focused their sights on a core problem: Uprooting tax fraud. India, too, is excited by AI's potential to crack down on tax cheats.

However, this enthusiasm needs to be tempered by careful planning and testing. AI is unlikely to strengthen tax administrations unless they are equipped to use it and subject it to rigorous testing. A recent study from India involving an AI-based tool to prevent tax fraud highlights this.

A growing number of countries are integrating AI tools to i...