AI IN GOVERNMENT: HOW AI TRANSFORMS THE GOVERNMENT
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Using Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector
The technologies available to enhance our lives and day-to-day operations are growing increasingly powerful. Forward-thinking groups around the world are collaborating more consistently with machine technology to unlock new possibilities. In government, cognitive solutions have the power to eventually revolutionize every aspect of public sector operation.
Already, many government groups believe that smart technology can have a direct impact on efficiency in the industry. Automation, machine learning, and conversational AI can all help to save governments time and money, allowing human professionals to focus more on the tasks that require their inherent creativity.
Artificial Intelligence paves the way for better performance in all aspects of government, improving the way communities operate on a foundational level.
HOW AI IS CHANGING GOVERNMENT
The impact of artificial intelligence on government operations is already becoming more obvious. Natural language processing allows groups to automatically extract information from various sources, encouraging deeper analysis and better decision making. Machine learning makes it easier for government groups to predict and respond to patterns in an environment.
A relatively simple, but effective form of AI in government appears in the way that technology is making local and federal customer information centers more effective. As societies become increasingly connected, governments need to manage more interactions than ever before. Following the pandemic, these groups are also managing these interactions in an environment where ensuring safety is critical. Fortunately, AI can help.
The US department for immigration and homeland security developed EMMA to handle immigration requests, passports, and green cards. Available in Spanish and English, the solution manages over a million transactions every month. In the same vein, AI-powered messenger bot TravelBot handles transportation requirements in the UK.
- Advanced analytics, research, and development
Perhaps the most significant purpose for AI in government comes in its ability to change the way we review and process data. Digitally connected devices on the Internet of Things could have a significant part to play in the future government. Already, the city of Jacksonville in the US has experimented with “intelligent streetlights”, using sensors and cameras connected to lights to track pedestrian movements and determine when to brighten lamps. This technology helps to reduce the use of energy on a national scale.
Identifying crucial information in huge datasets can be difficult for a set of human professionals. However, machine learning and AI solutions can complete these processes much faster. The SNHD health district, for instance, regularly inspects restaurants and food locations for food poisoning risks. The group deployed a machine learning software solution to analyze information online and detect high-risk environments. If inspections like this were more adaptive, research estimates it could result in 9,000 fewer incidents in the US each year.
- Improved interactions with citizens
As mentioned above, AI and machine learning can also significantly improve the way people interact with governments on a massive scale. Predictive algorithms in the government, for instance, can help to determine when peaks in requests and calls are likely to happen, ensuring government groups have enough people on-hand to manage every conversation.
Simultaneously, governments are beginning to use things like Alexa and Siri to handle various forms of everyday interaction. Our ability to use natural language processing in the modern landscape presents a fantastic opportunity in government spaces, helping citizens to make sense of regulation and law regulations, analyze large-scale environments, and even translate conversations into different languages. Bots have the potential to deal with a wider range of issues at speed.
With bots to automate more routine tasks in customer service, AI ensures that the human professionals responsible for dealing with more complicated issues in the industry have more time to focus in the right areas. At the same time, citizens get better, faster experiences too. For instance, the DoNotPay bot helped hundreds of thousands of people to challenge parking tickets through AI.
- Managing critical tasks with speed
Artificial Intelligence in government doesn’t just have significant potential in automating routine and repetitive tasks, it can also assist with a range of mission critical tasks. Robotics and AI in the military are becoming more common as a way of reducing casualties and protecting people on the front-line. At the same, tools like drones are on hand to work with national governments and cities to help with things like maintenance on a massive scale.
In government departments like the department of defense, AI can support critical capabilities through sensors and cameras. The right use of intelligence may improve situational awareness and decision-making, increasing the safety of ships, aircrafts, and vehicles in difficult situations. In environments responsible for looking after city maintenance, AI solutions can help to determine when parts might fail and automate the diagnosis of issues.
Automated tools can be leveraged in various environments of government to ensure responses happen rapidly when any significant issue is evident. For instance, an AI traffic system could detect congestion and send alerts to citizen smartphones to let them know where to go to avoid delays.
- New Ways of Seeing Citizens
Finally, computer vision is already demonstrating its uses for surveillance and security purposes. Combined with the right sensors, this technology is becoming increasingly integral to the management of infrastructure – such as determining which parts of the environment are at risk (old buildings and bridges for instance).
Computer vision technology can also help with things like regulation, determining whether factors and similar landscapes are delivering more pollutants into the atmosphere than expected. China already has a facial recognition system in place to assist with running various parts of the country. Although there are ethical issues to be aware of here, the potential is limitless.
Used correctly, sensors and computer vision could help to reduce congestion in traffic, improve day to day operations in various government environments, and even offer more protection against crime. Of course, the right guidelines will need to be implemented to ensure that citizens feel safe and supported by their government, rather than just “watched”.