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By Tr葍n Nguy峄卬

The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 鈥� California could soon deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to help reduce traffic jams, make roads safer, and provide tax guidance, among other things, under new agreements announced Thursday as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 efforts to harness the power of new technologies for public services.

The state is partnering with five companies to create generative AI tools using technologies developed by tech giants such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google-backed Anthropic that would ultimately help the state provide better services to the public, administration officials said.

鈥淚t is a very good sign that a lot of these companies are putting their focus on using GenAI for governmental service delivery,鈥� said Amy Tong, secretary of government operations for California.

The companies will now start a six-month internal trial during which the tools will be tested and evaluated by state workers. The companies will be paid $1 for their proposals. The state, which faces a significant budget deficit, can then reassess whether any tools could be fully implemented under new contracts. All the tools are considered low risk, meaning they don鈥檛 interact with confidential data or personal information, an administration spokesperson said.

Newsom, a Democrat, touts California as a global hub for AI technology, noting 35 of the world鈥檚 top 50 AI companies are in the state. Last year he signed an executive order requiring the state to start exploring responsible ways to incorporate generative AI by this summer, with a goal of positioning California as an AI leader. In January, the state started asking technology companies to come up with generative AI tools for public services. Last month, California was one of the first states to roll out guidelines on when and how state agencies could buy such tools.

Generative AI, a branch of AI that can create new content such as text, audio and photos, has significant potential to help government agencies become more efficient but there鈥檚 also an urgent need for safeguards and oversight to limit risks, state officials and experts said. In New York City,聽an AI-powered chatbot聽created by the city to help small businesses was found to dole out false guidance and advise companies to violate the law. The rapidly growing technology has also raised concerns about job loss, misinformation, privacy and聽automation bias.

While state governments are聽struggling to regulate AI in the private sector, many are exploring how public agencies can leverage the powerful technology for public good. California鈥檚 approach, which also requires companies to disclose which large language models they use to develop AI tools, is meant to build public trust, officials said.

The state鈥檚 efforts of testing the tools extensively and allowing state workers to provide feedback are some of the best practices to limit potential risks, said Meredith Lee, chief technical advisor for UC Berkeley鈥檚 College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. The challenge for the state will be determining how to continue testing and learning the tools鈥� potential risks after deployment.

鈥淭his is not something where you just work on testing for some small amount of time and that鈥檚 it,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淧utting in the structures for people to be able to revisit and better understand the deployments further down the line is really crucial.鈥�

The California Department of Transportation is looking for tools that would analyze traffic data and come up with solutions to reduce highway traffic and make roads safer. The state鈥檚 Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which administers more than 40 programs, wants an AI tool to help its call center cut wait times and call length. The state is also seeking technologies to provide non-English speakers information about benefits of health and social services in their language and to streamline the inspection process for health care facilities.

The tool is designed to assist state workers and not replace them, said Nick Maduros, director of the Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

Call center workers there received more than 660,000 calls last year. The state envisions AI technology listening to those calls and pulling up specific tax code information associated with the problem being described by the caller. The worker could decide whether to use the information. Currently, call center workers must simultaneously listen to the call and manually look up the code, Maduros said.

鈥淚f it turns out it doesn鈥檛 serve the public better, then we鈥檙e out $1,鈥� Maduros said. 鈥淎nd I think that鈥檚 a pretty good deal for the citizens of California.鈥�

Tong wouldn鈥檛 say when a successfully vetted tool would be deployed but added that the state is moving as fast as it can.

鈥淭he whole essence of using GenAI is it doesn鈥檛 take years,鈥� Tong said. 鈥淕enAI doesn鈥檛 wait for you.鈥�