The Partnership for Public Service has issued a report that examines how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by federal and state authorities in a variety of areas.
The research for the report, “The Future Has Begun: Using Artificial Intelligence to Transform Government,” was performed in collaboration with the IBM Center for The Business of Government and includes four case studies. The first case study involved using AI techniques originally created at the University of South Carolina to fight crime more effectively. The software was originally used to fight domestic terrorism by helping federal and state officials determine potential targets and make recommendations on randomizing patrol routes, security schedules for police officers, boat patrol routes, and assigning air marshals to flights. In a later application of the same software, the same system was given to wildlife rangers in Africa to assist in making decisions on which wildlife areas to patrol on any given day to protect both animals and plants. This was in response to presidential Executive Order 13648 issued in 2013 to have the Agriculture, Treasury and State Departments assist in combating wildlife crime.