Many countries are exploring how artificial intelligence might help with everything from processing taxes to determining welfare benefits. But a survey shows citizens are not as enthusiastic as their governments – and this can create real risks for democracy. "Focusing only on short-term efficiency gains and shiny technology risks triggering public backlash and contributing to a long-term decline in democratic trust and legitimacy," says Alexander Wuttke at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. Wuttke and his colleagues asked around 1200 people in the UK to share their feelings about government actions where either a human or an AI handled the task. These hypothetical scenarios included processing tax returns, approving or rejecting welfare applications and making risk assessments about whether defendants should be eligible for bail. Some people were only told about how AI could improve government efficiency – but others learned about both AI-related benefits and risks.

The US government issued new rules Thursday requiring more caution and transparency from federal agencies using artificial intelligence, saying they are needed to protect the public as AI rapidly advances. But the new policy also has provisions to encourage AI innovation in government agencies when the technology can be used for public good. The US hopes to emerge as an international leader with its new regime for government AI. Vice President Kamala Harris said during a news briefing ahead of the announcement that the administration plans for the policies to "serve as a model for global action." She said that the US "will continue to call on all nations to follow our lead and put the public interest first when it comes to government use of AI."

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has significant implications for state and local governments. One of the main implications is the potential for AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government services. For example, AI-powered chatbots can provide 24/7 customer service for citizens, while machine learning algorithms can analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and insights that can inform decision-making. Additionally, AI can be used to automate routine tasks, such as processing paperwork and data entry, freeing up government employees to focus on more complex and value-added tasks. However, there are also concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and privacy, and governments will need to consider these issues as they implement AI-based solutions.

In a surprise to some, elected officials in Colorado and New Orleans are telling proponents of face biometrics that personal privacy can outbalance the need by law enforcement and other government agencies to use facial recognition systems. In Colorado, the governor has signed into law new rules restricting the use of facial recognition by agencies and state institutions of higher learning. Meanwhile, the New Orleans City Council shut down a request from the municipality's superintendent of police to give officers access to facial recognition software. The Colorado law, SB 113, forces leaders of the organizations described to get permission to "develop, procure, use or continue to sue facial recognition service," according to the National Law Review. Using its "reporting authority," presumably to the state legislature, the agency or school must report the name of the vendor and the capacities of the system that would be used. The type of data to be collected, how it will be collected and processed as well as the purpose and benefits of the data collection must be revealed.

This guidance explains how algorithms and artificial intelligence can lead to disability discrimination in hiring. The Department of Justice enforces disability discrimination laws with respect to state and local government employers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces disability discrimination laws with respect to employers in the private sector and the federal government. The obligation to avoid disability discrimination in employment applies to both public and private employers. Employers, including state and local government employers, increasingly use hiring technologies to help them select new employees.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is planning to require citizens to create accounts with a private facial recognition company in order to file taxes online. The IRS is joining a growing number of federal and state agencies that have contracted with ID.me to authenticate the identities of people accessing services. The IRS's move is aimed at cutting down on identity theft, a crime that affects millions of Americans. The IRS, in particular, has reported a number of tax filings from people claiming to be others, and fraud in many of the programs that were administered as part of the American Relief Plan has been a major concern to the government. The IRS decision has prompted a backlash, in part over concerns about requiring citizens to use facial recognition technology and in part over difficulties some people have had in using the system, particularly with some state agencies that provide unemployment benefits.

A new form of "influence government", which uses sensitive personal data to craft campaigns aimed at altering behaviour has been "supercharged" by the rise of big tech firms, researchers have warned. National and local governments have turned to targeted advertisements on search engines and social media platforms to try to "nudge" the behaviour of the country at large, the academics found. The shift to this new brand of governance stems from a marriage between the introduction of nudge theory in policymaking and an online advertising infrastructure that provides unforeseen opportunities to run behavioural adjustment campaigns. Some of the examples found by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Criminal Justice (SCCCJ) range from a Prevent-style scheme to deter young people from becoming online fraudsters to tips on how to light a candle properly. While targeted advertising is common across business, one researcher argues that the government using it to drive behavioural change could create a perfect feedback loop.

There's bipartisan agreement in Washington that the US government should do more to support development of artificial intelligence technology. The Trump administration redirected research funding towards AI programs; President Biden's science advisor Eric Lander said of AI last month that "America's economic prosperity hinges on foundational investments in our technological leadership." At the same time, parts of the US government are working to place limits on algorithms to prevent discrimination, injustice, or waste. The White House, lawmakers from both parties, and federal agencies including the Department of Defense and the National Institute for Standards and Technology are all working on bills or projects to constrain potential downsides of AI. Biden's Office of Science and Technology Policy is working on addressing the risks of discrimination caused by algorithms.

Maine has just passed the nation's toughest law restricting the use of facial recognition technology. LD 1585 was unanimously approved by the Maine House and Senate on June 16 and 17, respectively, and became law without the signature of Gov. Janet Mills. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, hopes that Maine's new law--which goes into effect Oct. 1--will "provide an example to other states that want to rein in the government's ability to use facial recognition and other invasive biometric technologies." The country's only other statewide law regulating facial recognition was passed in Washington in 2020, and it authorized state police to use facial recognition technology for "mass surveillance of people's public movements, habits, and associations." The Washington law--written by state Sen. and Microsoft employee Joe Nguyen-- was opposed by the ACLU.

Stepping out in public used to make a person largely anonymous. Unless you met someone you knew, nobody would know your identity. Cheap and widely available face recognition software means that's no longer true in some parts of the world. Police in China run face algorithms on public security cameras in real time, providing notifications whenever a person of interest walks by. China provides an extreme example of the possibilities stemming from recent improvements in face recognition technology.