How agencies can best prepare for AI: 'Build a data team' Federal News Network

Decades of science fiction have primed people to conjure a very specific image when the subject of artificial intelligence arises: The malevolent robotic overlord that has evolved beyond the need for humans, or concern for their safety. And with that image in mind, it's easy to imagine that it's still a long way off. But in actuality, AI is already here, and its most common form is a lot closer to home than many people realize. "It's already hard to interact with a modern technology that doesn't in some way benefit from AI, whether it's obvious or not," said Mason McDaniel, chief technology officer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said during a Sept. 4 Meritalk webinar. "And I'd say that's going to continue as we move forward. And AI is going to increasingly be embedded and hidden behind the scenes simply as part of the applications; you're not going to go specifically to an AI app." "And I see that as those mature, as those get better, those are going to become more of a primary interface, whether it's spoken or using natural language text typing, to ask the devices for what you want," McDaniel said.