Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration

Main article: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence (AI)

2024

Sakhalin Oblast will introduce AI for master planning and acceleration of territorial development processes

The Sakhalin Oblast government, represented by the Ministry of Architecture and Urban Planning, has concluded a cooperation agreement with Rocket Group, the platform developer. The use of rTIM platform technologies will allow the island region to speed up master planning processes by more than 3 times. Rocket Group announced this on September 6, 2024. Read more here.

Launch of an AI system to check errors when transferring funds from the Moscow budget

In August 2024, it became known that the Moscow Department of Finance was the first in Russia to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) for automated verification of payment documents related to the transfer of funds from the city budget. The new system significantly reduces data processing time and improves the accuracy of error detection, which helps to improve the efficiency of urban financial structures. Read more here.

"Watch out, bear." Yamal and Sber outlined 55 promising scenarios for the use of AI in the region

According to the results of the strategic session with Sberbank, about 55 projects for the use of artificial intelligence were selected, which are potentially ready to go into development. This was announced in April 2024 at the IT forum Zyfra. Doc "in Salekhard by the Deputy Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Director of the IT and Communications Department Konstantin Oboltin.

As Konstantin Oboltin explained to TAdviser later at the forum site, the prerequisites for cooperation with Sberbank were laid down last year at the Travel to the World of Artificial Intelligence conference, where President Vladimir Putin turned to the head of Sberbank, German Gref, so that the bank would hold strategic sessions with each subject of the Russian Federation on the possibilities of using AI. Before starting to work out their potential projects, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug studied the experience of the regions with which Sberbank has already held strategic sessions.

After that, in December, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug formed a list of wishes for itself, and then Sberbank was asked for an AI course. All members of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug government who are involved in making decisions about the need for technology in a particular segment passed it, says the deputy governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Then the course was given to pass and civil servants of other levels.

The impetus for the development of AI technologies in the region is also given by the fact that the Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Dmitry Artyukhov is immersed in the AI agenda and motivates the IT department to create useful cases: first of all, to relieve employees from routine operations and direct their freed time to development tasks.

source = YNAO Government

First, the initial pool of AI projects was selected. And the second round of reporting events, when each department reports on the results of last year and designates the goals for this year, was the inclusion of their wishes that they want to try and implement in the field of AI. According to the results of these industry hours, 55 projects were selected, which were given to study Sberbank.

Sberbank will determine what it, as a technology partner, can close on its own through its own IT solutions, and what its partner companies have, of which Sberbank has a lot. From here, a pool of projects is formed that are interesting, potentially replicable, they are taken into development by Sberbank. Next week, the results and ranking of these 55 projects should take place. They are mainly aimed at increasing the productivity of civil servants, Konstantin Oboltin told TAdviser. Which of these projects will reach the finish line will become known later.

Also in the study in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug there are scenarios for the use of AI that have regional specifics. For example, the scenario "Beware, Bear," which is relevant for several settlements in the region where there is a danger from wild animals. The idea is to receive information from cameras connected to AI with the function of recognizing the necessary objects that a bear is approaching a small settlement and notify residents in a timely manner.

In such a project, the most difficult thing would be to find a real bear and confirm at the acceptance tests that all this works, notes Konstantin Oboltin.

At the same time, AI, computer vision technologies in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug are already used. For example, with their help, they consider people on sports grounds and assess the workload.

AI also allowed the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to track the effectiveness of CCTV cameras. As of April, there are almost 4 thousand cameras in the region, Konstantin Oboltin cited TAdviser data. Of these, about 700 are installed in Salekhard. Previously, the performance of the camera was assessed on the fact of its technical availability: if it transmits a picture, then everything is fine. At the same time, it happened that the camera was not turned where it was needed: for example, it was not turned to a massive crowd of people, but to the forest.

Now AI, configured according to various scenarios, monitors for the cameras to transmit exactly the desired "picture." This experience was borrowed from Moscow, which has many times more cameras, and it is impossible to manage such farms without AI, Konstantin Oboltin specified.

Another scenario already working in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the use of AI in processing citizens' appeals. AI analyzes the text and immediately highlights the key meaning of the appeal to the civil servant. At the same time, the full texts of appeals and their brief content are still being studied. But the "hit" of AI is very high, and Konstantin Oboltin sees in this story great potential and opportunities to save time for civil servants.

The Ministry of Digital Development found out the main challenges of the introduction of AI in public administration and outlined plans to overcome them

The Digital Economy is being replaced by a new national project - Data Economics. In it, as before in the policy of digitalization, one of the priorities is the large-scale use of AI technologies. Grigory Borisenko, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, spoke about the challenges related to the introduction of AI in public administration and the planned decisions to overcome them on February 1, 2024 at a round table on the digital transformation of public administration in the Federation Council.

Recently, together with the subjects of the Russian Federation and FOIV, work was carried out to assess what they consider the key barriers to the implementation and use of AI-based solutions. The first thing that turned out was the funding deficit, the deputy minister said. But the most important thing, he believes, is the lack of the necessary infrastructure, which the "feds" complain more about, as well as the lack of competence.

In terms of personnel and infrastructure, the Ministry of Digital Development considers it important to lower the entry threshold. To allow those constituent entities of the Russian Federation that want to actively work in the direction of the introduction of AI, it is necessary to ensure, firstly, the ability to access centralized state infrastructure.

And there are a lot of initiatives here, said Grigory Borisenko. Plus, within the framework of Gostekh, a state platform is also being created, which should be available, including to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, to developers whom they involve to solve their problems.

From the presentation of Grigory Borisenko

Another problem is access to data, to datasets that are used to train models. Here, individual developers and entities do not always have enough resources to carry out the work of the desired quality.

They are invited to create data sets together at the filing of the federal center and then distribute them free of charge to developers if they provide appropriate justified cases that they will be ready to solve using these data sets.

We believe that these two areas will significantly reduce the entry threshold for developers, including for model developers for public administration, and, thereby, contribute to the development of AI implementation, "said the Deputy Minister of Digital Development.

2023

Federal ministries in Russia create expert groups on AI

On October 18, 2023, it became known that expert groups will appear in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport, whose specialists will work out the implementation of artificial intelligence in specialized industries. Such units will be created with the participation of the Ministry of Digital Development and the Alliance in the field of AI.

At the end of 2022, as noted on the website of the Russian government, the volume of the AI market in the country reached almost 650 billion rubles, an increase of about 18% compared to the previous year. The indicator of the introduction of AI in the sectors of the economy is approximately 20% (as of September 2023). The highest penetration rate is observed in the financial services sector (56.8%), in the field of information and communication technologies (46.6%) and higher education (41.6%). The lowest values ​ ​ were recorded in the fields of trade, transport and health care - 19.2%, 17.7% and 15.9%, respectively.

Several ministries have created expert groups on the implementation of AI in their work

Expert groups on AI in Russian federal ministries will be formed by November 15, 2023. Specialists will help in the implementation of a set of measures aimed at the widespread introduction of AI technologies in the sectors of the economy and social sphere and in the system of public administration.

AI-based products help increase the efficiency of entire sectors of the economy, bring them to a qualitatively new level. It is very important for us that they are created in Russia. This is necessary to ensure independence from foreign suppliers, strengthen the security of our country, - said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Funding in the amount of 5.2 billion rubles is provided for the development of AI from federal funds for 2024. It is noted that AI-based products in Russia are widely used for data analysis, forecasting, process optimization, automation in industries, and the launch of convenient and useful services for citizens and entrepreneurs.^[1]

Maksut Shadayev outlined the main directions of AI development in the field of public administration

On July 19, 2023, the head of the Ministry of Digital Science Maksut Shadayev at a meeting of President Vladimir Putin with the government said that his department proposes to stimulate state-owned companies to use artificial intelligence technologies by including such projects in digital transformation strategies. The Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media included the following among the priority areas for introducing AI solutions in the public administration system.

Simple and understandable public services

The opportunity for a person to get answers to questions related to the procedure for obtaining public services in an understandable and accessible form. The user should not understand bureaucratic nuances. Ideal - he asks questions and receives specific answers.

Maksut Shadayev

Territorial Development Planning

The Ministry of Digital Development is developing a recommendation system that will suggest the optimal places for the construction of new schools, kindergartens, clinics, taking into account transport accessibility, building density, and social infrastructure.

Simplification of medical diagnosis

The ability to automatically find signs of diseases on electronic medical images. Algorithms are successfully trained in medical impersonal images with already identified diseases and can further tell the doctor what exactly to pay attention to.

Analysis of satellite images

The possibility of automatic analysis of satellite images to solve a number of problems: determining the places of illegal deforestation, analyzing the effectiveness of the use of agricultural land, identifying unregistered real estate for registration, and so on.

Algorithms in Weather Observation

A large array of weather observation data has been accumulated, which has been formed in Roshydromet for many decades. Let's make a large dataset that will allow testing new weather forecast technologies. They will be better and more accurate.^[2]

AI does not take bribes, let him make decisions: Sobyanin and Gref argued about the possibilities of artificial intelligence in public administration

On June 15, 2023, the mayor Moscow Sergei Sobyanin and the head Sberbank Hermann Gref argued during a public discussion about whether decision-making in public administration can be trusted. artificial intelligence Sobyanin adheres to rather conservative views on this issue. He claims that the capital's structures do an excellent job of managing the city and without AI.

In Moscow, a "traditional management system" that is based on the needs of residents. It aims to make sure that the person in the city feels comfortable, safe, receives high quality services. For this, "neither artificial intelligence nor any big theories are needed," Sobyanin said.

At the same time, the city has many elements of e-government, information flows, data processing, but these are "auxiliary mechanisms" that allow a person to make decisions more effectively.

Ideologically, I believe that no matter what we say about the "number" at this stage, a person remains dominant: his feelings, understanding, philosophy. This is especially true for the development of cities, - said the mayor.

Sergei Sobyanin does not trust artificial intelligence too much "(photo - portal of the mayor and the government of Moscow/Vladimir Novikov)"

The Chairman of the Board of Sberbank notes that public administration is a "substance" more complex, unlike other types of management. It begins with goal-setting, which in the case of public administration is a political process: the country's top leadership sets key goals. And then the process of achieving these goals begins - what the government is doing in our country, and this is a more technological process.

People were and remain key in this process, German Gref agrees. But one of the components of public administration is data-based management. This part is rational, and here it is best, especially in public administration, to give decision-making to AI systems, automated decision-making systems, the head of Sberbank believes:

AI does not understand why to take a bribe, why put it under the table so that it lies there for a couple of months. That's his strength.

There is also neuroeconomics (behavioral economics): this is about the influence of social, cognitive and emotional factors on decision-making. People do not always make rational decisions, and human society cannot be governed by making exclusively rational decisions. Therefore, there must be a component that takes this into account. Here it is difficult and hardly possible to replace a person.

The future will be built in such a way that people will create systems for automatic decision-making based on data, and people will remain where they need to determine goal-setting and take into account social, emotional and cognitive properties and human needs when making decisions, German Gref is sure.

Sergei Sobyanin is skeptical about the current capabilities of AI. To get the right answer from the machine, you need to lay down the right introductory with the right rules of the game. But in life with the huge amounts of data that have to be operated on, this does not happen, the mayor of Moscow believes. Of course, you need to use the maximum information flows to understand what is happening in real life, and this is already a familiar tool, but not AI for making decisions.

Probably, someday artificial intelligence will make decisions for us, but for this it must love a person. I can't imagine this, - said Sobyanin. - Without a person, without his emotions, determination, without his political views, it is impossible to make a decision to any machine. This is impossible in the coming decades.

And in general, if you put control in the hands of AI, the car will consider that a person is not particularly needed at all, the mayor of Moscow argues. The car will make decisions for the car, and the person makes them for people.

Herman Gref disagreed, noting that he had previously considered also, and now no. Why everyone was so excited by the capabilities of ChatGPT, the head of Sberbank asked.

What Sergey Semenovich is talking about is algorithms. Artificial intelligence "killed" them, there are no algorithms. Artificial intelligence is what reveals absolutely implicit patterns not in accordance with algorithms, but in accordance with goal setting, it makes the most optimal decisions, "Gref explained. - There was a highly specialized AI, and then there was such a thing as generativity: suddenly AI began to draw pictures, write texts, etc. It stirred everyone up. Everyone said that low-level professions would die. But they survived. And then GPT appeared - generative pre-trained transformer. I.e. generacy has already become the norm of life. This is a pre-trained AI, a transformer assembled in the image of a human brain with very different competencies. And the last thing appeared in which a person was strong - emergence. The man believed that he would always remain on this island. Emergence is the ability of complex systems to generate something new that is not characteristic of any of the components of that system.

All this story, collected in a transformer, encroached on the last competitive part of a person before AI - the creation of something new, the head of Sberbank believes. But, of course, there is a person behind this, and German Gref agrees that in the next decade AI will not take over government. However, in the corporate environment, this poses a serious threat. AI must be used as a tool, and in order to improve ourselves, become better, and to create a competitive economy and state.

If you ask artificial intelligence in a competitive economy whether pensioners need to raise their pensions, then he will answer that there is no need to pay at all, "Sergei Sobyanin retorted.

But Herman Gref believes that this is not the case: it all depends on what goal to set for AI. If the main goal is to establish the maximum budget cut, then, probably, AI will follow this. And if you set the task of fair distribution of funds, then no one will do it better than artificial intelligence, because there will be an honest approach and there will be no human influence and preferences.

The government will assess the introduction of artificial intelligence in government agencies

From 2023, Russian departments will report to the government on the implementation of solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI). This follows from the roadmap "Development of the high-tech direction" Artificial Intelligence "for the period up to 2030," which the government approved at the end of December 2022. It is planned to allocate 45 million rubles to check the AI maturity of departments by the end of 2024^[3] the ^[4].

Technological development of modern states: AI in public administration

In March 2023, the RANEPA published a scientific article highlighting the importance of artificial intelligence in the activities of governments of leading states of the world and analyzing its role in the process of public administration.

2022: AI called up for civil service

Under the government, the Center for the Development of Artificial Intelligence was created. In September 2022, the White House handed over the supervision of the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the public sector and in the sectors of the economy from the Analytical Center under the Government to the Higher School of Economics (HSE). The National Center for the Development of Artificial Intelligence under the Government, created on the basis of this university, has been tasked with becoming a platform for selecting AI solutions for business, science and the state, examining documents on the regulation of this area, as well as expert support for the introduction of AI in public administration and in the sectors^[5] economy^[6].

See also

Artificial Intelligence (Russian market)

AI in decision-making: Today and tomorrow

Artificial intelligence in Sberbank

Notes