AI could save government $41 billion, report says

Automation and artificial intelligence are poised to free up millions of hours of manpower and save billions of dollars across all levels of government, according to a recent report from Deloitte University Press. The 28-page report, titled AI-augmented Government, examines several case studies, provides a taxonomy of AI systems, and concludes that in the federal government alone, automation with "high investment" could free up as many as 1.2 billion hours of work and save up to $41.1 billion annually. Through the use of rules-based systems, machine translation, computer vision, machine learning, robotics and natural language processing, the report notes the unusual but "tantalizing" paradigm presented by AI in which speed is increased, quality is improved, and cost is reduced -- all in parallel. Researchers said they identified a potential 30 percent savings in government worker time that could happen within five to seven years of implementing an AI solution. The report concludes that AI will fundamentally change how every level of government works, and will do so much sooner than most people believe.