Artificial Intelligence for Citizen Services and Government

Hila Mehr
Harvard Ash Center Technology & Democracy Fellow 

From online services like Netflix and Facebook, to chatbots on our phones and in our  homes like Siri and Alexa, we are beginning to interact with artificial intelligence (AI)  on  a  near  daily  basis.  AI  is  the  programming  or  training  of  a  computer  to  do  tasks   typically  reserved  for  human  intelligence,  whether  it  is  recommending  which  movie   to  watch  next  or  answering  technical  questions.  Soon,  AI  will  permeate  the  ways  we   interact with our government, too. From small cities in the US to countries like Japan,  government agencies are looking to AI to improve citizen services.  While the potential future use cases of AI in government remain bounded by gov - ernment resources and the limits of both human creativity and trust in government, the  most obvious and immediately beneficial opportunities are those where AI can reduce  administrative burdens, help resolve resource allocation problems, and take on signifi- cantly complex tasks. Many AI case studies in citizen services today fall into five cat - egories: answering questions, filling out and searching documents, routing requests,  translation, and drafting documents. These applications could make government work  more  efficient  while  freeing  up  time  for  employees  to  build  better  relationships  with   citizens. With citizen satisfaction with digital government offerings leaving much to be  desired, AI may be one way to bridge the gap while improving citizen engagement and  service delivery.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT.....