If artificial intelligence is the next major technological wave to reshape public and private life, thousands of public-sector agencies and workers are taking the steps to create that world and not be molded by it.
"AI is a tool that can help us deliver value to our governments. If we lead with our public values -- equity, transparency, accountability, service -- then AI will be able to amplify the very best of what we can be," Jaime Wascalus, CIO for Saint Paul, Minn., told several hundred attendees gathered in the San Jose Convention Center Thursday during the second annual GovAI Coalition Summit*.
The GovAI Coalition, formed two years ago and made up of public-sector technology leaders and others from across the nation, provides resources for agencies as they navigate emerging AI tech and expectations from the public.
The coalition includes more than 3,000 members from 48 states, representing more than 900 agencies. More than 80 percent of member agencies are using the policy templates created by the coalition, Wascalus said, adding there are now more than 500 monthly users of the coalition's educational materials, use cases, and more than 600 contracts shared among coalition members.
"We are providing valuable materials to let you take action in your jurisdiction," Wascalus told the room. This is the kind of forward-looking ethos embedded at the coalition's heart.
"We're moving faster than we can manage. I don't think any city, or any agency, or any group, can claim, yeah, we got it," Khaled Tawfik, CIO for San Jose, Calif., said, summarizing the speed of AI technologies. "Change is just overwhelming all of us. And again, that's why we're here." Tawfik is also the coalition board chair.
The CIO likes to point out the numerous technology trends which helped to reshape the world in just the last 25 years: social media, smartphones, cybersecurity threats.
"If we had invested one more percent in cybersecurity 25 years ago, how much better would we have been today when it comes, just to that topic," he said.
"The ability for us to come together to imagine what could happen tomorrow so we could prepare for it, and how can we come together to make things happen, for the next generation," is the way Tawfik described the vision for what the coalition can accomplish with its collective energy.
But the organization is focused on more than the opportunities AI can bring to government. It's also preoccupied with the movement's caution and concerns. Wascalus raised the issue of the vast amounts of water and energy AI data centers are consuming. And, never far from any CIO's worries, are cyber threats.
"Think about a custom LLM that somehow gets into your system, and then has access to anything," Wascalus told the room, a crowd well versed in the shorthand of large language models and the havoc a nefarious LLM might wreak.
Forward-looking visions, and cautionary warnings are often at the center of government work, and it's especially the case with AI.
Wascalus recounted the words of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, a liberal Democrat from Minnesota, who is often quoted as saying, "Whatever happened to the idea ... that we all do better when we all do better?"
"That is kind of embedded in many of us Minnesotans," Wascalus said. "And I think that is very typical of how I feel about the GovAI Coalition. And we are doing great things to take government in new directions."
*The GovAI Coalition Summit is hosted by Government Technology in partnership with the GovAI Coalition and the city of San Jose.