A recent survey from the National Association of State Technology Directors measured the use of, excitement about, and skepticism regarding artificial intelligence (AI) within state and local agencies. Regardless of individual opinions of AI technology, the research showed that AI is here to stay, as evidenced by the fact that 62% of states reported developing contract language for purchases of new AI technologies. Additionally, 67% of states are cataloging active AI applications to get a full understanding of how the technology is being used across their agencies.
The AI uses cited in the survey as the most promising were cybersecurity, citizen portals, data management and analytics, and office worker efficiency. We took a look at these areas to see where AI is making an impact today.
Cybersecurity
Cybercriminals commonly target state and local agencies because they have high-value data and low cyber security resources. AI is helping to augment cybersecurity teams, greatly enhancing the security posture of critical agencies.
While automation has been a key component of security technologies—from threat detection to incident response, to anomaly identification—generative AI (GenAI) is extending automation’s power. GenAI is able to summarize outputs from the wide variety of cybersecurity tools being used in every agency. This provides quick, new context for cybersecurity experts to use in response to and investigation of threats.
AI is even proving helpful in securing the use of AI (can it get more meta than that?). To stay ahead of threats posed by bad actors who are using or exploiting AI technologies, security organizations have to respond in kind. The speed of AI in gathering and collating data accelerates the attention of security professionals to new threats, enabling a faster and more informed response.
Citizen Portal Virtual Assistants
Navigating government services and programs can be confusing for citizens. Agencies at the federal, state, and local levels have been working for some time to simplify processes and instructions, and now GenAI is accelerating those efforts as it powers chatbots.
The use of online assistants is not particularly new. State and local agencies have been using them for years, but the pandemic accelerated government use of and comfort with these tools. According to one report, nearly 75% of states deployed chatbots to assist government employees with providing services related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this success, and with the continued advancement of GenAI technology, the use of chatbots has continued to grow.
- Texas has implemented a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions from visitors to the Texas.gov portal. Questions the bot cannot answer get routed to a human for immediate follow-up.
- The Georgia Department of Labor is employing a chatbot to help answer questions about unemployment insurance benefits and guide people looking to complete job searches and tax forms.
- Amarillo, Texas, is deploying a chatbot, named Emma, that will audibly communicate with citizens in more than 60 languages.
Efficient Use of Data
Reporting is a necessary evil of nearly every position in local government. While it provides transparency to leadership and the public alike, it tends to take a lot of manual effort. AI is helping combat the issue of people spending more time reporting than on the work those reports are intended to document.
In Washoe County, Nevada, AI is helping streamline creation of the staff reports (which can be hundreds of pages long) that give elected officials context on projects, grants, and other initiatives that they will have to vote on. Historically, these reports were often typed manually, pulling employees away from their day-to-day responsibilities. Now, the county is utilizing an AI tool (fed with data on laws, previous agenda items, meeting minutes, zoning codes, master plans and other relevant background information) to deliver these reports. The resulting reports have proven to be about 80% complete, meaning that employees now only have to complete 20% of the work they used to.
Similarly, police departments across the country are looking to AI to help reduce the time officers spend writing reports. Police officers can spend 40% of their time writing reports. While AI technology can take data from body cams and audio recordings the technology should be used as a head start on reports for officers to then review and add additional data and context.
To stay on top of the use of AI in state and local agencies, check out these resources from GovWhitePapers and GovEvents.
- Three Key Technology Advancements Enabling Law Enforcement Modernization (white paper) – Law enforcement is implementing foundational architectures including cloud, artificial intelligence, and edge solutions to better utilize digital evidence with current staffing.
- Deploying AI Systems Securely: Best Practices for Deploying Secure and Resilient AI Systems (white paper) – Deploying artificial intelligence (AI) systems securely requires careful setup and configuration that depends on the complexity of the AI system, the resources required (e.g., funding, technical expertise), and the infrastructure used (i.e., on premises, cloud, or hybrid).
- Outsourced and Automated: How AI companies Have Taken Over Government Decision-Making (white paper) – AI systems are being used to assign children to schools, inform medical decisions about patients, impact policing decisions about where to patrol and whom to target, and determine who receives public benefits.
- Revolutionizing Government with Intelligent Content Management (October 9, 2024; webcast) – Agencies need a content strategy that takes the best of their existing technology stack with AI as the centerpiece. By bringing structure to critical data and leveraging AI technology to automate workflows, agencies can accelerate positive outcomes for constituents and the workforce.
- The Public Sector Summit at FORWARD: The Pathway to Mission Impact Through AI (October 23, 2024, Las Vegas, NV) – Learn from your peers about how they are transforming their agencies with AI and automation. Listen to leaders in government, higher education, and industry share compelling use cases on how AI-powered automation is modernizing the public sector to deliver better experiences and better outcomes.
- GovAI Summit 2024 (October 28-30, 2024; Arlington, VA) – The practical applications and opportunities of AI in the public sector are shared across .mil, .gov, .edu, and .org. Real use cases explore the art of the possible and discuss how to overcome the challenges with getting there.
Find more insight and examples of AI in state and local government on GovWhitePapers and GovEvents.
