Assembly Bill 976, authored by Assemblyman Ed Chau, D-Monterey Park, would create the Artificial Intelligence in State Government Services Commission and direct it to “gather input on how artificial intelligence and data science could be used to improve state services.” The commission would also be charged with drafting plans to seek AI and data science-related demonstration projects for “critical state services” — and help those services succeed accordingly. Approved June 25 by the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization, the bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee to be analyzed for its fiscal impact on the state. Chau told Techwire the legislation — which now has co-authors including Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Granite Bay — has won popular support and may still win legislative approval by Sept. 13, the last day for the Legislature to pass bills.
“Although it is still moving through the legislative process, this bill has received unanimous and bipartisan support in the Assembly and the Senate and is co-authored by both Democrat and Republican legislators,” Chau, chair of the Assembly Committee in Privacy and Consumer Protection, said via email. Among the takeaways:
• Chau struck a balance on AI, which he said could improve not only state services themselves, but the “conditions under which state employees deliver those services.” The hope, the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus member said, is that the commission will be able evaluate all departments to determine where AI and data science can improve services. But AI also brings with it challenges including loss of privacy, reinforcing institutional bias and worker displacement, he noted.
• Among the state agencies already using some form of AI for automation are the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Board of Parole Hearings. These agencies use it to run the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions tool to identify parole eligibility. The Public Employment Relations Board uses AI to process notification templates, and the California Secretary of State’s Office has made its award-winning Eureka chatbot available to answer questions about business and trademarks since 2018.
• The commission’s work could benefit the Department of Motor Vehicles, which struggled to overcome problems last year with the Motor Voter automatic voter registration program; and to address growing demand for the federally mandated Real ID.
“It is yet to be determined how the commission will modernize state services; however, the rollout of AI technologies for state government services is best accomplished first through carefully developed and monitored pilot demonstration projects so that any negative or unanticipated effects can be mitigated,” Chau said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom emphasized that DMV’s modernization will “go small and build on successes” instead of attempting large, unwieldy, expensive initiatives that could be more difficult to correct when issues arise.
• If approved, the commission would be responsible for convening “a public process annually” to take input on using AI and data science to improve state services; and for proposing a plan to seek AI and data science-related demo projects for “critical state services,” and incorporating successful demo projects into existing government services. Guiding principles for the plan would be due by Nov. 1, 2020.
It’s unclear who would sit on the commission and exactly how it would interact with the California Department of Technology (CDT) and Newsom’s new Office of Digital Innovation. But, Chau pointed out, CDT Director Amy Tong would be an ex officio commission member, “and there is nothing prohibiting the commission from working closely with the newly created Office of Digital Innovation,” he said.
