The State of New Jersey on Wednesday launched a voluntary training course to teach state workers best practices for responsible use of generative AI in day-to-day work and strategies for identifying and overcoming risks like bias.
The state also rolled out the NJ AI Assistant, a generative AI tool that offers state employees a responsible way to test the use cases described in the training program on a secure platform with security and data protections. According to the announcement, the assistant is hosted on state servers, features security and privacy protections and does not use state data to train any third-party AI models.
“With the launch of the State’s very own AI Assistant and the GenAI training course, we are on the cusp of a new era of government transformation,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said about the announcement. “We are empowering our public servants with the knowledge, skills, and training to comfortably and responsibly leverage this technology to solve real problems for New Jerseyans.”
The initiatives are part of an executive order that established the New Jersey AI Task Force and also directed the State’s Office of Information Technology to develop policies to govern and facilitate use of artificial intelligence technologies. Similar to California, Illinois, Vermont and many other states, New Jersey has started exploring how generative AI can improve government services.
The New Jersey Office of Innovation is using AI to help rewrite emails from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development in plain language. The state claims this resulted in state residents responding 35% faster. The New Jersey Division of Taxation is using AI to analyze calls at its property tax program call center to improve self-service menu options. The state claims this has led to a 50% increase in the number of successfully resolved calls.
According to New Jersey’s announcement, the AI training course was designed with input from industry leaders, the state’s public sector workforce and federal officials.
The course also helps state employees understand how to use generative AI to translate complex government topics into plain language to disseminate public information, summarize lengthy documents, brainstorm and generate new content, among other tasks.
“I look forward to all the ways our State departments and agencies will put this technology to good use, ensuring New Jersey remains the best place to live, work, and raise a family,” Murphy said.
Written by Sophia Fox-Sowell
Sophia Fox-Sowell reports on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and government regulation for StateScoop. She was previously a multimedia producer for CNET, where her coverage focused on private sector innovation in food production, climate change and space through podcasts and video content. She earned her bachelor’s in anthropology at Wagner College and master’s in media innovation from Northeastern University.
