New forms of technology, such as USLege, are helping governments at all levels to accomplish many duty-related tasks and keep better track of feedback from their citizens. These new forms of artificial intelligence enable civic leaders to work with a great deal more efficiency and productivity in the same amount of time or less. AI chat service bots are able to answer many citizens’ questions and address various concerns without the need for human intervention.

The AI Advantage

Platforms such as USLege allow federal, state, and local governments to analyze feedback from their citizenry on a much deeper level. This, in turn, provides more coherent and complete data that can be used to create more effective policies and rules. Tasks that used to take government employees days or weeks to accomplish can now be done in minutes with new technologies such as NLP and machine learning.

The Information Superhighway

While there is always the danger of inputting misinformation into these new systems, AI and machine learning ultimately provide governments with avenues to communicate with their citizenry much more quickly and thoroughly than ever before. This new loop of feedback is rapidly translating into more effective public policies and more personalized service at all levels of government ( https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/governing-with-artificial-intelligence_795de142-en/full-report/ai-in-civic-participation-and-open-government_51227ce7.html).

Ways that Civic Technologies and Artificial Intelligence Help to Connect Governments and Citizens

There are several ways AI and machine learning are enabling citizens to access governmental services and information without human interaction. Some of these include:

• Easier access – AI programs and chatbots allow citizens to have direct conversations with governments at any time of day or day of the week. These systems are programmed to answer most basic questions that citizens will ask and can also provide additional feedback and instructions.
• Clearer feedback – Systems such as NLP permit citizens to provide more complete and detailed feedback and submit, refine, and vote on specific policies in a way that they never could before.
• Enhanced understanding – Many types of AI programs are very adept at describing complex governmental policies in simpler terms than most people can. The binary backbone of these systems allows them to naturally break down complicated topics into logical steps and categories more easily than most government employees are able to.
• Improved accessibility – Citizens with disabilities and handicaps are now more able to access governmental services and systems with the advent of real-time translation and text-to-speech technologies. Those who speak different languages are now often able to choose the language they use, either by phone or online.
• Online tracking – Citizens can now usually track their complaints and requests online to see where they are in the process. This can make filing grievances easier and also provide peace of mind to those who are waiting for the governmental entity to perform a specific service for them.

AI and machine learning are also impacting governmental policies in many ways. Their constituents can now access detailed policy information and news by phone or online, thus eliminating the need for expensive and wasteful paper mailings and other traditional forms of information dispersion. Some of the ways that civic technology is changing governments include:

• Enhanced information analysis: AI programs can instantly sort through and analyze thousands or millions of citizen responses to surveys, mailings, or other communications in a way that humans cannot. These systems can ultimately identify important themes and patterns in the data that humans cannot.
• Improved response rate – The data collected by AI programs can quickly present public consensus on policies, procedures, and limitations, thus allowing governments to respond to public feedback more quickly and keep their communications to the public current and relevant.
• Greater efficiency – Machine learning and AI can perform essential tasks such as routing complaints or ideas to the right person or department instantly, without the need for human involvement. The money saved by not having to pay human employees can also then be used for more productive purposes.
• Improved interactions – As mentioned previously, AI programs can automatically target specific segments of constituents for various purposes, such as contacting potential young voters to get them to the polls at election time. They can also provide detailed explanations for new policies and procedures that can be accessed at any time.
• Accessible data platforms – AI programs such as USLege and machine learning can quickly summarize and condense reams of data into bite-sized, easily understood nuggets of information. They can give quick breakdowns of long governmental meetings and concisely quantify large pools of information, such as public spending and environmental data.
• Predictive analytics – AI programs are also useful at predicting certain occurrences, such as when or where potholes in the road will form, or anticipating when there will be a widespread need for a specific health service to the public.

A New Level of Participation by Citizens

One of the most important elements that civic technology provides is the chance for individuals to make their voices heard at all levels of society. AI and machine learning can help to facilitate online group discussions and chatrooms and assist moderators in filtering out harmful or obscene content. It can also graphically illustrate new proposed structures or projects and then record public feedback.

Chief Concerns

While AI and machine learning are opening up new frontiers for both governments and citizens, care must be taken not to ignore those who are digitally unskilled or unable to access online resources. Other major concerns include ethics and transparency. Governments must keep their constituents fully informed of the nature and scope of these new technologies so that individual privacy and autonomy are maintained. All AI decisions must be validated by humans to eliminate potential biases inherent in the programs.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming society at all levels, but are still in their infancy. These systems are effectively allowing governments to connect with their citizenry in new ways that facilitate improved communication and interactions with the public. While care must be taken to ensure fairness and privacy are respected, only time will tell how else these programs may impact society.