(BOISE) Some Idaho state government employees are already using generative artificial intelligence, or AI.
But many say they would like help with a range of concerns, including for legal and ethical guidance, according to a survey by the Idaho Office of Information Technology Services.
The Idaho Legislature’s AI Working Group, a committee established to study AI for possible legislation, heard those findings Tuesday.
“We’re currently in the wild wild West, because there’s not a whole lot of guidance to the agencies,” Idaho Office of Information Technology Services Administrator Alberto Gonzalez told lawmakers.
The committee has met twice in late 2024 ahead of next year’s legislative session, which starts Jan. 6.
“From a government perspective, we’re meeting all sorts of requirements through just leveraging what’s out there already. So that’s the exciting part,” Gonzalez told lawmakers.
But data leakage is one of the biggest dangerous parts, he explained.
“If we allow people to put in any sort of protected data into the AI, it becomes part of the large language model. And I think that’s the scariest part,” he said.
Lawmakers serving on the committee discussed plans to meet again in January, with less presenters and more discussion or possible policy recommendations, but did not immediately schedule another meeting.
What did a survey on AI use in Idaho government agencies find?
The Idaho Office of Technology Services’ survey findings suggest most — 65% — of Idaho state government employees know about generative AI.
But only around a quarter, 23%, of state employees reported their agencies are using it; 51% said their agencies weren’t using it, while 23% said their agencies are exploring options.
“From adoption to becoming very proficient with it will take some time,” Gonzalez told lawmakers. “We were really happy at, I would say, the level of intellect that we got in the responses from our employees. And the real concerns — which I think is what’s going to be in front of you as a committee and potentially in a collaboration with us — around what they want us to address. Data privacy concerns are probably at the top of the list.”
A total of 2,802 state government employees from 45 agencies responded to the survey.
The survey did not list a margin of error, a figure that indicates how much the actual opinions of people being surveyed could differ from responses reported in a survey. But Gonzalez told the Idaho Capital Sun after the meeting that the survey results matched up with what his agency had heard anecdotally.
“From the employee base, we hear there’s quite a bit of excitement and concern — both almost equal. But I think a lot of people want to leverage the power of AI, but they’re also asking for some guidance,” he said.
While some say generative AI has made agency work more efficient, enhanced service delivery and polished decision-making, some state employees reported concerns — about ethical, regulatory and data privacy risks associated with AI’s use, the survey found.
“The more and more you leverage technology and (generative) AI, as you start to adopt it, it will create major efficiencies. To the point where you’re either no longer getting FTE requests,” Gonzalez said, referring to state agency requests for full-time employees, “or potentially, there will be a reduction in force at some point in time in your future.”
Free-form responses to the survey, Gonzalez said, showed a range of attitudes toward AI between “enthusiasm, curiosity and a little bit of fear.”
“They know that their data is not clean, and they need some help. And so we plan on doing something to try to support them,” he told lawmakers.
“But the biggest one that we got, that I think scared a lot of them, is just skepticism. They’re worried. Like, they know the power of AI. ‘Is this going to impact my job? What does it mean for us in a few years?’” Gonzalez said.
Idaho state government agencies have used AI to automate document generation, analyze images and videos, and for customer service, chatbots, and fraud detection and risk assessment, employees reported to surveyors.
Employees reported in the survey that they could see AI being used to automate processes, create content and more in Idaho state government in the future.
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.
