The majority of Australia’s public servants believe artificial intelligence (AI) will help them deliver better government services.
A survey commissioned by public sector website The Mandarin found 82 percent of public servants who responded believed AI offered the “intelligent guidance” that would help users with the services they needed.
The Mandarin editor-in-chief Peter Gearin reported the survey found 78 percent supported the use of AI for automated routine enquiries to ease frontline service burdens, while three in four said AI would help reduce their manual workloads, freeing them for more complex work.
Mr Gearin said most (70%) also saw AI as a tool to enable fairer, more transparent and consistent decision-making.
He said overall they were optimistic that AI would help bring about a much-promised revolution in government service delivery.
“Respondents say the best use cases align with the most pressing service delivery challenges. These are viewed as “high-impact, low-risk wins” that will help build confidence and momentum in the use of technology.”
Mr Gearin said the government insights survey attracted more than 1300 respondents from across Australia.
He said frontline staff reported more user friction than executives, with frontline staff, for example noting navigation barriers as a significant service obstacle for 44 percent of users, while their managers say it was an issue for 21 percent of users.
“About 72 percent of respondents believe AI could help fix many of the issues service users currently face (and) a third of these have a strong belief that AI will make a material difference.”
