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Artificial intelligence in government

Artificial intelligence (AI) has a range of uses in government. It can be used to further public policy objectives (in areas such as emergency services, health and welfare), as well as assist the public to interact with the government (through the use of virtual assistants, for example). According to the Harvard Business Review, "Applications of artificial intelligence to the public sector are broad and growing, with early experiments taking place around the world."[1] Hila Mehr from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University notes that AI in government is not new, with postal services using machine methods in the late 1990s to recognise handwriting on envelopes to automatically route letters.[2] The use of AI in government comes with significant benefits, including efficiencies resulting in cost savings (for instance by reducing the number of front office staff), and reducing the opportunities for corruption.[3] However, it also carries risks (described below).

Receiving benefits at job loss, retirement, bereavement and child birth almost immediately, in an automated way (thus without requiring any actions from citizens at all)

[6]

Social insurance service provision

[3]

Classifying emergency calls based on their urgency (like the system used by the in the United States[7])

Cincinnati Fire Department

Detecting and preventing the spread of diseases

[7]

Assisting public servants in making welfare payments and immigration decisions

[1]

Adjudicating bail hearings

[1]

Triaging health care cases

[1]

Monitoring social media for public feedback on policies

[8]

Monitoring social media to identify emergency situations

[8]

Identifying fraudulent benefits claims

[8]

Predicting a crime and recommending optimal police presence

[8]

Predicting traffic congestion and car accidents

[8]

Anticipating road maintenance requirements

[8]

Identifying breaches of health regulations

[8]

Providing personalised education to students

[7]

Marking exam papers

[1]

Assisting with defence and national security (see and Applications of artificial intelligence § Other fields in which AI methods are implemented respectively)

Artificial intelligence § Military

Assisting with , including by using ChatGPT or a custom GPT[9]

policy analysis

Potential benefits[edit]

AI offers potential efficiencies and costs savings for the government. For example, Deloitte has estimated that automation could save US Government employees between 96.7 million to 1.2 billion hours a year, resulting in potential savings of between $3.3 billion to $41.1 billion a year.[5] The Harvard Business Review has stated that while this may lead a government to reduce employee numbers, "Governments could instead choose to invest in the quality of its services. They can re-employ workers' time towards more rewarding work that requires lateral thinking, empathy, and creativity — all things at which humans continue to outperform even the most sophisticated AI program."[1]

Risks[edit]

Risks associated with the use of AI in government include AI becoming susceptible to bias,[2] a lack of transparency in how an AI application may make decisions,[7] and the accountability for any such decisions.[7]


AI in governance and the economic world might make the market more difficult for companies to keep up with the increases in technology. Large U.S. companies like Apple and Google are able to dominate the market with their latest and most advanced technologies. This gives them an advantage over smaller companies that do not have the means of advancing as far in the digital technology fields with AI.[23]

AI for Good

Applications of artificial intelligence

Artificial general intelligence

Civic technology

e-government

Existential risk from artificial general intelligence

Government by algorithm

Lawbot

Project Cybersyn

Regulation of artificial intelligence

Singleton (global governance)

Cornish, Lisa (5 December 2018). . The Mandarin. Retrieved 12 January 2019.

"Bringing intelligence to government decision-making"

Garner, Catherine (4 December 2018). . The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.

"Demystifying artificial intelligence"

London, Dan (6 June 2018). . CIO. Retrieved 12 January 2019.

"Powering AI for government"