Automation + AI

How to responsibly, ethically, and equitably use technology—including artificial intelligence (AI)—to automate certain processes is an increasingly important question for governments at every level.

Portrait of two young software developers using computers in office and smiling happily enjoying work
Cheerful young businesswomen brainstorming using sticky notes.

Sifting through complexity with a focus on equity and access.

When properly designed and implemented, automated solutions can help ease work loads and speed up the service delivery process. However, automated approaches can also create potential harms for residents, create new biases in systems, and raise issues around transparency and accountability.

It can be difficult to parse through the different terms used to describe the technology behind automated processes and systems, from AI, to robotic process automation or algorithm-driven decision-making, and automated decision-making systems. It can also be challenging to sort through information about what a given technology can and cannot do today. Practitioners need clear information to evaluate new technologies, including AI and other approaches to automation.

This page contains resources to illuminate the landscape of automated technology to help practitioners understand and assess automated systems and tools.

Subtopics

Explore our 7 automation + AI subtopics below.

Audits + Accountability

8 Resource(s)

Generative AI

13 Resource(s)

Mitigating Harm + Bias

24 Resource(s)

Policies, Standards + Guidance

8 Resource(s)

Robotic Process Automation

4 Resource(s)

Trustworthy AI

5 Resource(s)

Use Cases

11 Resource(s)

How to Get Started

We recommend these resources as a starting place on how to automate and responsibly use artificial intelligence (AI) in the delivery of government services.

Automation + AI

NIST: AI Risk Management Framework

In collaboration with the private and public sectors, NIST has developed a framework to better manage risks to individuals, organizations, and society associated with artificial intelligence (AI). The framework is intended for voluntary use and to improve the ability to incorporate trustworthiness considerations into the design, development, use, and evaluation of AI products, services, and systems.

  • U.S. Department of Commerce
  • 2023

Automation + AI for Public Benefits

Automation + AI

AI-Powered SNAP Modernization

This report explores how AI is currently used, and how it might be used in the future, to support administrative actions that agency staff complete when processing customers’ SNAP cases. In addition to desk and primary research, this brief was informed by input from APHSA’s wide network of state, county, and city members and national partners in the human services and related sectors.

  • American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
  • 2024

Discover All of Our Automation + AI Resources

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