1.0 | Introduction: Understand How AI Impacts You and Your Government

About this course

Welcome to Apolitical’s course on how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts you and your government.

We know that public servants want to embrace tools that make their jobs easier and allow them to serve citizens better. But where AI is concerned, it’s difficult to know where to begin. It can feel like the technology is speeding ahead, and news headlines are dominated by everything that can go wrong.

Discussions about AI veer rapidly towards “How can I trust it?” let alone “How can I use it?” Someone mentions ‘government’, and the conversation takes on a life of its own. You might find yourself stuck in an endless debate without knowing how to drive innovation at a responsible pace.

This free course will put you back at the steering wheel.

You’ll discover that you don’t need to be a tech expert to understand how AI impacts you and your work. You’ll learn that AI is not as scary or even as ‘intelligent’ as you first thought, and — as you start exploring new solutions to old problems — you’ll build the confidence to share your ideas with colleagues along the way.

Course breakdown

Section 1: What is AI?

You’ll start this course with a brief history, discovering how AI has evolved to the point that it has become important to learn about. You’ll challenge common assumptions and misconceptions before being introduced to the different types of AI and how they’re used in ways you might already be familiar with, both at home and at work.

Section 2: Identifying risks, preventing harm

In section 2, you’ll uncover specific examples of how AI has been used in the public sector. You’ll begin by testing your intuition for risks, before reading case studies that demonstrate real-world impacts on citizens when things go wrong. You’ll then learn about the problems AI can help the public sector solve when used appropriately.

Section 3: How can AI help in your role?

In section 3, you’ll explore the potential of AI tools from a practical perspective. You’ll learn how to securely test and explore AI as an individual ‘consumer’ before being introduced to ideas that could benefit you in your role. You’ll take part in creative activities to discover the differences between artificial and human intelligence first-hand.

Section 4: Developing an AI mindset

In the final section of this course, you’ll consolidate what you’ve learned by preparing to have a productive conversation about AI with your colleagues. Each lesson will help you guide informed discussions about the use of AI in government, preparing you for the collaborative task of using AI responsibly in the public service.

Before you get started

As you prepare to start learning, take a moment to consider this question and reflect on how much you already know about AI.

Learning with Apolitical

Continue reading to learn what to expect from this course, how to use our supporting resources, and how to get the most from your learning experience.

Navigating this course

As you start your Apolitical course, we'd love to learn about you and your motivations. Please fill in our quick five-minute survey.

This is a 4-part course. Each section is divided into short lessons with their own page on our platform. Work through them one by one. The total learning time for this course is approximately 4 hours. Sections always come with an estimated completion time. We recommend allowing one week per section.

Extra tips

Here are some additional steps you can take to make the most out of this course:

• Find your optimal study slot: Check the estimated time for each section and block out weekly focus time, whether it’s before work, lunch breaks, evenings or weekends. Is there a day when you generally have fewer meetings or get fewer urgent requests? Would keeping your study time regular help you commit?

• Set a reminder: Make sure you don’t forget. To help with this, we recommend setting a weekly study reminder.

Getting in touch

Do you have further thoughts to share with us? Your insights can help us improve the relevance of this course to other public servants. If you’d like to share your reflections and recommendations, use the contact information below to send us an email, voice note, video, or request a call to talk through your ideas.

• Help:

  We’re here to help with any problems or questions you might have during your course. Send us an email at

  concierge@apolitical.co

  and we’ll be in touch.

• Share your thoughts:

  To offer your reflections on the course content, you can complete the survey that you’ll find at the end of the course.

Let’s go

Once you’ve set aside a study slot, it’s time to get going. Head to the next lesson to begin.

Course outline | Next lesson ➡️

This is the logged out version of a short course in Apolitical’s Government AI Campus. To access all interactive elements and download a certificate of completion, sign up for free.