AI for the public sector: Benefitting citizens through cognitive solutions

Description

AI adoption in the public sector is fundamental in shaping and improving government services for the future. This session will focus specifically on opportunities to improve access to government information through AI-powered search and digital customer experiences. The government is in the multi-billion-dollar business of funding research and providing critical information to citizens, but much of this remains inaccessible to the public. Traditional methods of digging through unstructured content and relying on a one-size-fits-all digital experience provide ample opportunity for improvements with AI technologies.

While barriers to entry for AI adoption are not unique to the government, there are often concerns around the challenges of implementing new technologies in the public sector. Drawing on his experience bringing AI to the public sector, Sumeet Vij offers perspectives on public sector AI trends, such as data privacy, Authorization to Operate (ATO), security considerations, growing the skills of the workforce, and avoiding vendor lock-in. Along the way, Sumeet dispels myths around barriers to entry and shares approaches and opportunities as he highlights examples of three successful AI adoptions, focusing on starting small and using an incremental and open approach to democratize AI.

Examples include:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which uses an AI-powered cognitive search tool that supports easy access to life-saving mental health information
• The Children’s Inn at NIH, which employs an AI-powered conversational agent that ensures all families visiting the Children’s Inn get the information they need
• Benefits.Gov, which uses an AI-powered recommendation engine that enables all citizens access to information on applicable government benefits