State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Artificial Intelligence Will Help Create a More Responsive Government

Government Technology: When a citizen dials 311, it has been the longstanding preference by mayors to have a city employee on the other end of the line to deliver the ever-valuable personal touch.

But when efficiency is the priority, are we really best served by having city employees at 311 call centers act primarily as switchboard operators, sifting through online scripts or, worse, binders or spreadsheets and responding to information requests with specifically coded responses?

More often than not, citizens will call 311 with an information request — to determine their trash pick-up day, the hours the public pool is open or another simple ask. The North Carolina Innovation Center is now using chatbots for its internal IT help desk hotline, where between 80 and 90 percent of calls are for help changing a password.

Read article