The Integrity Crisis in the AI-based Measurement of Livelihood-Related Consumption

Abstract

This exploratory case study investigates a significant profit increase observed in a Chongqing gas company after it replaced traditional meters with smart meters in the fourth quarter of 2023, and preliminarily explores its possible correlation with measurement deviations. Based on the financial statement data of a gas company in Chongqing from 2021 to 2023, this paper finds that the company's net profit increased substantially after the large-scale replacement of smart gas meters in the fourth quarter of 2023. After excluding the influences of variables such as unit price and cost, it is confirmed that this abnormal profit growth stems from the rise in sales volume, which is highly correlated with potential measurement deviations in the smart meter system. Natural monopoly enterprises have exploited their advantages in algorithmic black boxes and data interpretation rights to implicitly alter measurement logic for profit-seeking. The underlying causes lie in the failure of market regulation and supervision mechanisms in monopoly industries, as well as the natural lag of administrative regulation behind technological applications. This paper proposes dismantling livelihood consumption sectors such as energy into three distinct fields: supply, pipeline, and measurement, according to their functional attributes, so as to achieve mutual restriction and supervision among the three parties.