AI and Public Demand - How Government is Responding

Public opinion on the use of AI in government is quite mixed. Many people recognize the potential benefits, such as improved efficiency and better decision-making. However, there are also significant concerns about privacy, security, and the potential for misuse.

A Pew Research Center survey found that?52% of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI in daily life, while only?10% are more excited than concerned1. This cautious attitude extends to AI in government, where people worry about issues like surveillance and data privacy.

The U.S. government is already using Artificial Intelligence to build predictive models to help screen a wide variety of services applications. ?to identify cases where a favorable determination is highly likely, and evidence is readily available to support decisions. Because the government has collected and maintained a lot of historical data, these new predictive models are helping agencies to prioritize their workloads and expedite case processing.?

For example, the VA is using AI to automatically group free-text comments into topic areas to ensure that major trends are captured, and to facilitate processing and effective case management of comments. The USPTO is using AI to assist examiners with finding relevant documents and additional prior art areas to search to help them in adjudicating new patent applications. And the Social Security Administration plans to provide new AI-based tools and services to visualize, search and more easily identify relevant clinical content in medical records to improve the efficiency and consistency of disability determinations and decisions and provide a foundation for machine-based decisional guidance.

The plain reality is that Americans are demanding more and better service from their government. And people expect:

• Increased transparency.
• New ways to approach problems.
• More personalized interactions.

The way Americans interact with businesses, news, entertainment, and other services has radically raised expectations for how they interact with government. Citizens expect the same level of service from government as they receive in the private sector, and that means agencies need to use AI to meet these expectations, as well as helping them transform and move into the current century.

Americans’ views on the role and expectations of the government are as diverse as choices at a potluck dinner. But everyone agrees government needs to modernize and AI is fundamental and foundational in this journey.

There are groups and individuals who express concerns about using AI in government. Here are a few key points of opposition:

1. Misinformation and Deepfakes: Some lawmakers are worried about AI’s potential to spread misinformation, especially through deepfakes.?This has led to proposed legislation to regulate AI’s use in political campaigns1.
2. Election Integrity: Experts warn that AI could both help and harm election integrity.?While AI can streamline election processes, it also poses risks by potentially amplifying misinformation2.
3. Human Rights Concerns: There are significant concerns about AI systems that do not respect human rights. For example, the U.S.?and EU have expressed opposition to AI systems used for social scoring and mass surveillance3.
4. Technical and Ethical Challenges: The public sector often lacks the necessary talent and resources to effectively implement AI.?Additionally, AI systems can be vulnerable to adversarial attacks, raising questions about their reliability and security4.
5. Barriers to Adoption: Various challenges, such as data privacy, ethical considerations, and the need for robust regulatory frameworks, hinder the widespread adoption of AI in government5.

In the last couple years, government has begun establishing new standards for AI safety and security to protect Americans’ privacy, helps advance equity and civil rights, that promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more.

It’s an exciting time to work in both the government and in industry where AI is starting to make big differences for benefits recipients and for the federal workforce. This is why I started this newsletter – to highlight the good, the bad and the ugly of AI and the new way government is working for everyone’s benefit.