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Residents in Kansas City, Missouri, often did not know where service requests went or how long fixes would take. “When you called 311, it was a black box,” says Andrew Ngui, the city’s chief digital officer.
The scene in Kansas City plays out regularly across the country. Not coincidentally, technologically-savvy communities have prioritized 311 services in the implementation of artificial intelligence.
Despite fears and skepticism, Big Brother isn’t about to take over your trash clean-up, make arrests, or fill potholes. Rather, AI-powered technology is being integrated into city services to make it easier for city employees to tend to their needs.
The rush to modernize government processes comes as citizens have become accustomed to rapid responses from retail brands and restaurants that have been conducting transactions via apps for years. “Residents have come to expect a similar experience from government services based on the experiences they have from Apple, Google, etc.,” notes Ngui.
AI-powered license plate readers and device trackers at schools and major events make most of the headlines, but the reality is AI is primarily being used to improve invisible systems like customer service, workflows, and communication, according to Jared Morris, chief information officer for the City of Tempe, Arizona.
Tempe uses roughly 300 AI-related solutions across city government. Some AI applications are simple, such as helping staff draft emails more efficiently. Others fundamentally re-engineer workflows in health, safety, and infrastructure. These efforts include wastewater monitoring programs and other biointelligence studies related to disease surveillance that were the norm in Tempe long before the COVID-19 pandemic made it standard practice.
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Proximity to Arizona State University fuels innovation and experimentation, and the university and city have been at the forefront of AI for far longer than ChatGPT has been a household name. Other communities are just now trying to catch up, according to Morris.
“AI is kind of like the smartphone or the internet. The technology is coming, whether we’re prepared or not,” he says.
Communities are pooling their knowledge and resources to try to keep up with the rapidly evolving tech. In November 2023, the GovAI Coalition was established by the city of San José, California. The first meeting attracted 50 agencies. There are now 250 local, county, and state governments that are members. In total, they represent more than 150 million Americans.
The coalition’s basic tenet is that AI can be a tool for improving the quality of life for citizens in communities large and small. The first step toward accomplishing that goal is convincing residents that this is the case.
Operating in the open has served Denver well, says Suma Nallapati, Chief AI and Information Officer for the City and County of Denver.
“Transparency serves as the cornerstone of our city’s AI policies and implementation,” says Nallapati. “While explicitly integrated into our policy frameworks and vendor assessments, our commitment extends beyond technical transparency to include robust governance and monitoring that ensures clarity for the end user.”
The Mile High City’s efforts are most visible through Sunny, the region’s 24/7 chatbot that answers questions and handles service requests, available via the local government website, WhatsApp, and text messaging.
Sunny understands and responds in 72 languages. To date, Sunny has supported residents in over 40 languages. The app cuts out the middleman when a citizen files a complaint. Requests reach the appropriate agency within seconds and don’t require a human to repeat the issue in a phone call.
“Our residents give Sunny a 90% satisfaction score,” Nallapati says.
Morris says the benefits, like those Denver has seen, go beyond solving the problem at hand. Automation frees civic workers to use their skills on a task only a human can do.
“If we can do what we’re doing now in a more effective way with our dollars, then we can take that and use it for other purposes,” says Morris.
Kansas City prioritizes “human-centered” implementation of AI, says Ngui. The process begins by asking whether an issue is a need or a want. He compares it to choosing between a painkiller and a vitamin. Both are helpful, but have different purposes.
“A painkiller addresses a pain that is immediate,” he says. “That is a priority, and that is urgent.”
Among the more urgent considerations across the country is a backlash to AI in regions that have not been transparent with its use. For instance, residents in Troy, New York revolted against cameras designed by FlockSafety, which had initiated a network of automatic license plate readers in more than 6,000 communities, according to The Washington Post. Funding was cut for the program in Troy, as it has been in 60 communities telling the company “to Get the Flock Out.”
Police say the technology allows them to track cars associated with serious crimes and to find missing people. But the cameras were installed without council approval or residents’ input.
Tempe is fortunate in that ASU’s presence eased early buy-in. Responsible use of AI and other tech has kept criticism at bay. Morris notes Tempe was among the first cities in the U.S. to implement formal ethical AI protections and is one of only five cities to be awarded platinum status by Bloomberg Philanthropies for its data-first approach.
“We need to find ways to communicate these innovations with the public,” Morris says of communities in the U.S.
Denver has also prioritized data protection through its AI Policy, AI Standards, and mandatory AI security training for employees, says Nallapati. “We are tracking AI tools across all employees, we are blocking restricted data on the front end, and we have policies for OneDrive and SharePoint to ensure proper access controls,” Nallapati notes.
Ngui describes AI adoption as a practical tool choice rather than a futuristic experiment. Communities lagging behind should collaborate with vetted technology companies rather than build everything themselves, he says, noting AI’s the best way to meet communities’ demands.
“Why would you peel a potato with a fork or spoon when you have a potato peeler?” Ngui asks rhetorically.
