Much of the news about artificial intelligence has focused on how it will change the private sector. But all around the country, public officials are experimenting with how AI can also transform the way governments provide essential services to citizens while avoiding pitfalls.
State AI leaders, including Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, gathered at Princeton University in June to discuss how AI offers a way for agencies to enhance their work at a time when budgets are strapped and economic uncertainty has slowed down hiring.
Hosted by Princeton's Center for Information Technology (CITP), the NJ AI Hub, the State of New Jersey, the National Governors Association, the Center for Public Sector AI, GovLab, and InnovateUS, the conference brought together state AI leaders from across the country to share ideas and collaborate. The meeting was under an agreement of confidentiality to allow participants to discuss progress and concerns openly.
What emerged was enthusiasm about AI’s potential to reduce the time government employees spend on manual tasks and improve their ability to engage citizens, as well as concern about how best to use public data to innovate and increase equity rather than undermine it.
The gathering is just one of the ways that CITP – which is a joint center of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Princeton Engineering – is leading on AI. The center also holds policy precepts to engage policymakers AI governance at the SPIA in DC Center, and several affiliated faculty teach courses on AI policy at Princeton SPIA.
At the conference, CITP Director Arvind Narayanan noted that attendees were focused on practical implementation of AI tools rather than the “polarizing conversations around AI that dominate the media.” He also explained why public-facing deployments of AI by state governments have been slower than internal ones.
“There’s a clear recognition of the need for thinking about public accountability and equity. At the same time, I think there’s also recognition of the potential for governments if we get this right,” said Narayanan, who is also a professor of computer science and co-author of “AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference.”
Speakers shared big and small ways that AI is improving government. Some noted saving an hour or two a week per employee by leveraging AI to write grants, assess legislation, or review procurement policies while ensuring oversight and accuracy. One city automated the summarization of council oral votes, a task that was previously completed by a city clerk, creating summaries of 20 years of council books in a short period of time at nearly zero cost. As a result, voters have a simpler way to access information and hold elected officials accountable.
In his remarks, Gov. Phil Murphy laid out how New Jersey is approaching the technology, saying that the state has worked “hand in glove” with Princeton to embrace AI innovation.
“We held hands and jumped into the AI space,” Murphy said of the state’s partnership with the University. Together with Microsoft and New Jersey-based company CoreWeave, the state and University launched the NJ AI Hub earlier this year to foster AI innovation. “I don't think we'd be all in if we didn't think that the probabilities were very high that a lot of good things could go right with AI, but I think we also have to acknowledge some of the tensions that are still playing themselves out.”
Murphy highlighted concerns about AI’s potential to empower bad actors, as well as its impact on human creativity, jobs, and equity.
“Is this going to be something that is a huge wealth generator for the few, or are we going to be able to give access to this realm to everybody,” he said.
One of the ideas attendees considered at the conference was building a public AI infrastructure that would ensure it remains an open-source technology, rather than becoming privately controlled by a few companies. Bringing AI into the public domain would also present an opportunity to build in controls and mechanisms for accountability, speakers noted. They argued that AI is foundational technology, not unlike roads and bridges.
At the end of the two-day gathering, Anne-Marie Slaughter, chief executive of the New America Foundation and former Princeton SPIA dean, reflected on the conference. She emphasized what others had said about needing to be transparent in how AI is used and ensuring that public trust in government is strengthened.
“[AI] doesn't just transform how government does things better, faster, cheaper. It can transform what government does and, even more importantly, what government in a democracy is,” Slaughter said. “You can start to co-create and you can start to co-govern.”
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