3.4 | Serve the public better

Citizen-focused AI solutions

1. Introduction

In the last lesson, you discovered some ways that generative AI tools can help you become more efficient in your specific role.

In this lesson, you’ll hear insights from public servants about how AI tools could help you create a more efficient and effective government. We know you’re not looking to shoehorn AI tools into your job for the sake of it, so this lesson is all about finding ways to spend more time doing the meaningful work you signed up for.

2. Work better, serve better

Speaking at Apolitical’s 2022 workshop on AI, algorithms and ethics in the public service, Bernardo Rivera Muñozcano, who specialises in technology governance, frames this conversation by starting with the reason many people choose to work in the public service:

When you’re making decisions in government … you want to make your job better, you want to better serve.1 – Bernardo Rivera Muñozcano, Program Officer, Community and National Initiatives, the Knight Foundation.

AI technology is a way to supplement the good work of government, not replace all aspects of it. Now, let’s see how those working in civic engagement view the role of AI in government.

2.1 Efficiency and responsiveness

Writing for the Apolitical community on ‘How not to get overwhelmed by AI trends’ Vanja Pantic, the Communications Lead at CitizenLab, tells us that as “public servants lean into using AI in their work, it’s important to recognise that the emotional, human connection and values that go into community work must still be sustained.”2

For Yoshi Manale, a seasoned civil servant, using AI to streamline government workflows and processes goes hand-in-hand with community-focused work. Manale thinks that “the more public servants experiment and understand how to use generative AI, the more it increases the opportunity for the public sector to use those tools to better serve the needs of citizens”.3

Manale sees generative AI as a way to “revolutionise” how governments respond to the needs of the public. From website chatbots trained to respond to common questions, to improving the turnaround time of freedom of information requests, AI offers public servants a way to quickly interact with citizens and keep them “up to date on current issues and topics in almost real-time.”4

Currently serving as the city manager for a mountain community in the US, Manale thinks that AI can benefit public services at a local level too, allowing councils and municipalities to improve their engagement with residents and “become more efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of their communities”.5

2.2 Inclusivity and accessibility

AI can help governments become more responsive to the public they serve, but it can also improve how easily citizens can access the information and services they need.

“Public servants shouldn’t undermine the potential AI technology has to help reach more of their community,” says CitizenLab’s Pantic. When utilised well, AI can create more inclusive opportunities, removing “traditional barriers to engagement, such as varying work hours and transportation availability or costs.”6

Pantic tells us that when public servants “are able to meet people where they are (online)”, community engagement sees “an average 12x increase in participation, including from underheard groups.”7

In the context of AI-powered community engagement, Pantic explains that this is most often applied to the creation of policies and programmes, but it can be elevated to electoral decisions. This might raise some eyebrows, but Pantic shares a powerful example:

“To elect representatives for the Escazú Agreement, the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, CEPAL (the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) developed a new election process using [a] community engagement platform. Community members were able to learn more about the agreement and vote for candidates directly on the platform. Ultimately, around 2,000 participants cast their votes on the platform to elect their public representatives.”8

AI in your world

Imagine an ideal public service that allows you and your colleagues to spend more time doing meaningful work — public service that is free of bureaucratic systems and processes.

How might AI help your department and team move closer to that ideal?

3. Conclusion

In this lesson, you learned that AI tools can help streamline government workflows and processes, making them responsive to the needs of citizens. You also encountered real-life examples of how AI can improve the accessibility of government services, making it easier for citizens to get the information and help they need.

Before we enter the final section of this course, head to the next lesson, where you will build on the reflection question above, discussing the tasks AI could help you with at work.

Key takeaways:

• AI can help streamline government workflows and processes, allowing public servants to spend more time responding to the needs of citizens.

• While AI can help public servants serve communities, it can’t replace the human connection and values essential to community work.

• AI can improve the accessibility of government services, improving civic engagement and making it easier for citizens to get the information they need.

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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.