What is the Future for A.I. within Illinois Government?

As we become more aware of the growth and potential of artificial intelligence, federal and state governments ponder the implications on the public and within government (and governing).

Last month the state of Illinois held a Digital Government Summit in Springfield with included I.T. pros along with government pros at several levels within the state.

The applications for A.I. moving forward are vast. The emerging tech could be used to make government more efficient. Something that government at any level almost never achieves. The rub on that is, if you are a government employee, does that mean you aren’t needed? This perspective isn’t exclusive to public service. However, its’ implementation could be a harbinger for reduced taxes.

This is heresy to public sector unions, and I don’t believe unions were present at the summit, other than in the personage of the employees present. With the state of Illinois’ massive unfunded liabilities and debt, even with reduced costs post A.I. implementation, there would still be a span of time before that mountain of debt will be paid.

Then there’s the infrastructure. It’s only been in recent years that offices in many Illinois government agencies have had upgrades in tech that have been many years overdue. That upgrade itself -theoretically- should aid efficiency, but are the new upgrades capable of running an ever-evolving A.I.? Probably not.

What will be the role of A.I. in helping legislators understand the potential impact of passage of specific laws and regulations? Were A.I. used in a way that could adequately predict the outcome of said decisions, government would by definition become more efficient, instead of having to come back and propose “fixes” in the form of new legislation to cover for previous “promises”.

The future utilization of A.I. goes beyond what we can conceive of at this point. Will government embrace it for the betterment of the taxpayer? Or will government demand to control what A.I. does, rendering it effectively impotent? Will that be “official” state A.I.? Will there be other A.I models allowed or “recognized” by the state? What if they contradict each-other.

What of Chicago? The Windy City will probably want it's own A.I. to run instead of one that it has to deal with in in Springfield.

The world is changing. Much of the talk is about how it could be used in the private sector, but pay attention to how these innovations are used on the public sector level.