Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders on Wednesday launched a working group to study and make recommendations about the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) within state government.
“AI is already changing the face of business in America, and Arkansas State Government cannot afford to be caught off guard,” Sanders said. “As we seek efficiencies within state government, with the right guardrails, AI can play a role in improving the level of service to Arkansans while controlling costs. At the same time, we must prevent misuse of AI to protect Arkansans. This working group will build the knowledge base necessary to achieve these goals safely.”
The AI & Analytics Center of Excellence (AI CoE), a subcommittee of the Data and Transparency Panel (DTP), will be established through a subcommittee of the DTP during the group's second quarter meeting on June 27, 2024, and will be chaired by Robert McGough, Chief Data Officer for the State of Arkansas.
The working group will study, evaluate and provide recommendations on policies, guidelines and best practices for the ethical, effective and safe use of AI across Arkansas government.
In addition to providing guidelines on the safe use of AI, the AI CoE will review and evaluate a series of pilot projects to foster learning about AI and its potential risks, and develop best practices for the safe potential implementation of the technology.
The AI CoE’s comprehensive guidelines include initial considerations such as accountability (trustworthiness and accuracy), appropriate data sets, autonomy, bias, ethical use, intellectual property ownership, privacy and security, and transparency.
The following two projects have been identified as initial AI use cases for the AI CoE, meeting criteria including data availability, demonstrable value, alignment with state priorities, stakeholder buy-in and secured funding:
- Unemployment Insurance Fraud (Bureau of Workforce Services)
- Reducing recidivism (Arkansas Department of Corrections)
The AI CoE will exist for one year from the date of its creation, unless extended or terminated by the Governor, and will meet monthly and submit an initial report to the Governor by December 15, 2024, on the progress of pilot use cases and proof-of-concept projects focused on efficiency, cost savings, safety, and economic development.
