Nearly two years after ChatGPT and other generative AI tools first became widely available, government interest is growing from scrutiny and experimentation to broad understanding that an array of increasingly powerful generative AI tools can support revitalization and be a key tool in reinventing work in government.
The time is ripe to strategically address the transformative potential of emerging generative AI. Leading businesses and customer service organizations are seizing opportunities to better serve their clients and improve operations. Similarly, there is fast-growing demand and need for proactive planning and leadership now on generative AI across all levels of government.
Our recent report, Work, Workforce, Workers: Reinvented in the Age of Generative AI, estimates that 42 percent of all global working hours in public service are in scope for augmentation or automation through generative AI. The overall projected impact of 16 percent of time saved across the entire public service value chain represents potential gains in efficiency and effectiveness that are too big to ignore.
Government organizations everywhere, constrained by tight budgets and workforce shortages, and facing rising demands for services, should now at a minimum be assessing generative AI’s potential to help reinvent how they operate internally and how they serve their stakeholders. Tools are available now to help support strained workforces and longer-term needs to reinvent work and workflows.
Public sector workers are ready to join the effort to leverage generative AI. Our global research reveals that 97 percent of public service employees want to acquire generative AI skills. Currently around 7 percent of public service organizations are reskilling their people at scale. Skills-based recruitment and retention priorities should better address the large and growing interest in generative AI among prospective and current employees.
As organizations address reskilling tied to growing potential and use of generative AI, learning and training needs will vary widely based on types of work and management responsibilities. All employees should gain a basic understanding of generative AI and its use within their organization. Employees whose work will be augmented by AI will need deeper/specialized skills as AI is incorporated into work processes. Organizational leaders and managers charged with exploring, piloting and overseeing generative AI within their organizations must prioritize responsible and ethical use of AI and be able to leverage the deep technical skills needed to deploy advanced new technologies.
The following are the most important questions government organizations should get to grips with to determine the way forward in the age of generative AI.
- How to prioritize investments?
- What will be our guidelines and policies for the ethical, meaningful use of new AI tools?
- Do we have data and technology ready for generative AI?
- How do we connect with appropriate services and partners in the technology ecosystem?
- Do we have a learning/reskilling framework suitable for the anticipated large impact of generative AI on our organization; are our leaders and employees ready?
- Is AI already being used in our organization and are value and risk being assessed and balanced?
As public sector agencies begin to assess and deploy generative AI, common early use cases are for online searches, synthesizing content, document creation, and contact center support. Trailblazers are starting to move from pilots to larger-scale implementations. While many government agency leaders are beginning to ponder and explore the possibilities of generative AI, most are still in wait-and-see mode.
Responsible use of generative AI should be an initial focal point of all initiatives. Along with building employee knowledge and skills for generative AI, establishing and maintaining public trust in government’s use of powerful new technology tools is essential to enable broad positive impact. Moving forward with generative AI requires diligence regarding potential impacts on security, intellectual property rights, bias and discriminatory content. Transparency is also crucial for public sector use of AI, given confidentiality and ethical use concerns.
The path forward on generative AI in government must be founded on thoughtful, systematic approaches to the fundamentals of assessing, prioritizing, planning and managing pilot projects and broader implementations when justified. The first step is to aspire to build the foundation of knowledge, skills and digital capabilities needed to enable basic experimentation and use of generative AI. While many government organizations have yet to begin the generative AI journey, none should ignore the ongoing rapid emergence and spread of new tools to improve government services and enable the success and productivity of government workers.
Rainer Binder is Accenture Public Service global managing director for social services and Natalie Sisto is Accenture Public Service North American managing director for workforce and talent transformation.