“It’s ridiculous to live 100 years and only be able to remember 30 million bytes. You know, less than a compact disc. The human condition is really becoming more obsolete every minute” – Marvin Minsky, Co-founder of MIT AI Laboratory
In 2021 it seems like there is barely an aspect of our lives left untouched by AI (artificial intelligence). The way we shop online, stream movies, even the hiring process at work, and yes, governments are also affected by AI’s technological advancements and the possibilities it brings along. There are many use cases of AI implementation, and many of them can revolutionize the way the federal government works.
My experience working in a bespoke software development company shows me how fascinating software solutions can be and the positive impact they can have both on our personal and professional lives. In particular, AI has been a trendy topic for years. Although there are still many functionalities that it lacks, e.g. making moral judgements or always explaining its decisions, it can perform lots of tasks faster than a human being. But don’t worry, our jobs are still safe. For now, at least.
Is the Federal Government Ready for AI?
Government Has Tons of Data and AI Loves Data
The truth is, wherever there are vast amounts of data, AI tools can be implemented as “problem-solving partners” to help government employees with national security strategies or during criminal investigation processes. Most federal agencies agree that they can benefit from AI to assist them in forms and document management. Also, each of us makes hundreds of interactions daily on digital platforms, which creates large piles of unstructured data.
Experts suggest that around 80 to 90% of all data is unstructured, meaning that it is not organized in a traditional row-column (relational or SQL) database, making it extremely difficult to analyse. For this reason, lots of modern software development trends lean towards creating AI-powered solutions that help public organisations navigate through this data jungle and extract meaning from it, e.g. via data mining and predictive analysis tools.
AI Could Save Time and Money
It is only logical that a large-scale endeavour such as data mining costs a lot of money and requires a considerable time investment. Dominico Delmolino, CTO of Accenture Federal Services, proposes the idea of looking at AI as virtual co-workers that can take off the burden of federal government workers by concentrating on routine and time-consuming tasks instead of them.
He further gives the example of the Bureau of Labour Statistics example that has successfully implemented AI to help workers with routine tasks like getting reports for accidents. This procedure previously required manual input for different job codes associated with the accidents. As a consequence, investigators can then focus on more complex and interesting cases. This is only one of the many examples of how with a little training AI can improve services and simultaneously save on operational costs.
What Software Does the Government Need?
Every federal agency will need a custom software solution, depending on its focus area and the type of relevant information about citizens. Experienced custom software development companies can play a pivotal role in helping federal structures go through digital transformation and enhance existing processes as well as collaborate with each other easily.
For instance, custom solutions help optimize data integration across multiple departments to increase efficiency and optimize data flow. Covid-19 made it clear that collaborations between national health agencies, public services, and other government structures like the police are vital in keeping the information up to date and take measures to preserve public health. By automating processes and increasing the quality and speed of data flow, AI can make a valuable contribution to a better data sharing process and more in-depth understanding of data analysis.
The First AI Applications to Enter the Public Sector
Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics refers to the process of numerous statistical techniques, including data mining, machine learning algorithms, predictive modelling that create evidence- and fact-based analysis to make predictions about uncertain events.
The huge predictive potential of AI became evident in 2016 when researchers from the UCL, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Sheffield found out that AI can predict juridical decisions of the European Court of Human Rights with 79% accuracy. Machine learning algorithms are bound to prove themselves invaluable when it comes to thorough future predictions, e.g. post-Covid economic situation or epidemiological prognosis of contagious disease outbreaks.
Chatbots
Chatbots are another trendy topic across debates about implementing AI within established federal structures. Chatbots can be helpful tools to enhance and accelerate the delivery of public services to the citizens. Across the globe, many government agencies have already adopted chatbots as a way to improve the quality of their services.
The Department of Home Land Security uses a chatbot called EMMA – a virtual assistant that supports English and Spanish and helps ease the process of pertaining requests such as green cards and passports. Another exciting example of chatbot implementation is San Francisco’s PAIGE. Short for Procurement Answers and Information Guided Experience, this chatbot is an information system that serves government employees with their IT procurement procedures. It is only a matter of time before all federal government agencies utilize information delivery through chatbots.
How Could Artificial Intelligence Transform the Government?
A Deloitte survey points out that early adopters view AI as a “way to augment human capabilities” instead of a tool for entire process automation. 68% of public sector organisations, as opposed to 80% in the private sector, believe that AI helps employees make better decisions. Also, nearly 80% of both public and private enterprises agree that the combination of human labour and AI will lead to innovative ways of working.
In the near future, we can expect to observe tremendous growth in the possibilities of cutting-edge technologies. In the digital era we all live in, progress is directly correlated with information technology. AI is considered to be a leading technological force when it comes to revolutionizing the way national governments organize work processes. We will have to wait and see exactly what an impact this will have on the way we live.
Guest article written by: Aleksandrina Vasileva. Aleksandrina is a Content Creator at Dreamix, a custom software development company, and is keen оn innovative technological solutions with a positive impact on our world. Her teaching background, mixed with interests in psychology, drives her to share knowledge. She is an avid reader and an enthusiastic blogger, always looking for the next inspiration.
Your article is very well written, thank you for sharing it. With the development of technology nowadays, it is possible for AI to change the way of working, but definitely not to replace humans.