On March 2, 2020, the Millennial Action Project (MAP) held the second Millennial Monday lunch of 2020 with attendance by staffers from offices on both sides of the aisle. This lunch was held in conjunction with Partnership for Public Service (PPS) and included insights from Alex Cohen, Director of Emerging Technology at the General Services Administration (GSA). The focus of the briefing was the opportunities and challenges that come with advances in artificial intelligence (AI) as well as the actions that the federal government is currently taking in the area. Given the outsized impact that AI will have on the future of governance, employment, and the lives of Millennials and members of younger generations, MAP continues to engage stakeholders and encourage collaborative and future-oriented action around the technology.
The briefing began with a short presentation by Katie Malague, Vice President of Government Effectiveness at PPS, who discussed some positives and negatives of AI as well as enumerated key considerations for facilitating federal agencies’ use of the technology. The opportunities that AI provides include increasing operational efficiency and uncovering new insights, while the negatives centered on issues of transparency and the risk for misuse of data. Data privacy is one of the concerns most often expressed about AI, and Ms. Malague took time to discuss the federal government's use of data in addition to other considerations that federal agencies must keep in mind when employing AI in their directives.
After her presentation, Ms. Malague invited Alex Cohen to the lectern for a moderated conversation where he discusses his role at the GSA and experiences at other agencies, and where he sees AI in government progressing in the near future. One of the most notable takeaways from Mr. Cohen’s presentation was the already ubiquitous use of AI in the federal government: at this point the technology is being used practically every day in every agency. Mr. Cohen’s main goal at GSA is to remove the obstacles that other agencies throughout the federal government are facing in their progress towards more effective use of AI. Creating a clear policy environment within the federal government around use of AI will allow for further innovation that has the potential to augment governmental efficiency and catalyze future policy development and implementation.
According to Mr. Cohen, the most effective action that Congress can take is to provide cover for agencies to accept the risks that come with AI implementation. Cohen related an anecdote of an organization that gave out awards for “successful failures,” awarded to somebody that had tried something that did not necessarily work, but provided an important lesson or teaching moment. By acknowledging that AI projects will not always be successful, Congress would allow for more innovation and more progress to be made. The next most important action that Congress could take according to Cohen would be to provide more funding with greater flexibility, specifically for federal tech workforce issues, as well as for overlapping new systems with legacy systems before they have been sunset. This funding is necessary for federal agencies to recruit and retain top talent, as the current funding level allows the private sector to regularly poach the best employees out of public service. In response to questions from staffers, Cohen and Malague acknowledged the serious concerns about governmental use of data, but held strongly that most agencies use a conservative approach to data that prioritizes individual privacy, especially when compared to private sector practices. Cohen and Malague also emphasized the need for a more AI literate workforce across government, not just in the executive branch.