Digital Assistants Transforming Public Service - AI Trends

Digital assistants have become a major trend in government at every level and across geographies, and could soon be a mainstay in many state and federal agencies in the U.S. Recent favorable signs include an executive order launching the American AI Initiative and the Health and Human Services Department awarding 57 spots on its Intelligent Automation/Artificial Intelligence (AI) contract, according to natural language processing (NLP) expert William Meisel, president of TMA Associates. Speaking at the AI World Government conference, held last month in Washington, D.C., Meisel says digital assistants (aka "intelligent" or "virtual" assistants) are among the most developed and least risky ways to implement AI--and "the closest to what we see in sci-fi." Digital assistants are broadly applicable across departments and agencies looking to cut costs and boost human productivity and have a minimum probability of failure and unintended consequences. For a citizenry looking for answers, they're also a "nice alternative to automated systems and long hold times," he adds. Juniper Research reports that, by 2023, one-quarter of the populace will be using digital voice assistants daily, says Meisel.