Hollywood is concerned that AI will take jobs. The Governor just signed a bill to “control” AI. At the same time the State of California is looking for ways to use AI.
“The Golden State is looking to solve problems with generative AI, and to meet that goal, held a showcase Thursday for vendors to pitch ideas in short presentations.
State workers moved from one room to another at the May Lee State Office Complex in Sacramento, hearing several pitches in a short amount of time.
John Evans, chief technology advisor with World Wide Technology, told listeners at his presentation that there’s a balance between data and innovation. Focus too much on the data at the start, and stakeholders will wonder why there’s no product. However, too much innovation at the beginning will be hard to correct if there’s not enough data preparation.”
Who cares what California says about AI? AI can be used in any of the 49 other States or anywhere on the globe, without permission of government or unions. This is a run away train that government can not stop.
AI innovators pitch ideas to California
Implementation of any AI-related project that’s chosen by the state is at least a year away.
Alan Riquelmy, Courthousenews, 9/26/24 https://www.courthousenews.com/ai-innovators-pitch-ideas-to-california/
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Call it speed dating for artificial intelligence, California style.
The Golden State is looking to solve problems with generative AI, and to meet that goal, held a showcase Thursday for vendors to pitch ideas in short presentations.
State workers moved from one room to another at the May Lee State Office Complex in Sacramento, hearing several pitches in a short amount of time.
John Evans, chief technology advisor with World Wide Technology, told listeners at his presentation that there’s a balance between data and innovation. Focus too much on the data at the start, and stakeholders will wonder why there’s no product. However, too much innovation at the beginning will be hard to correct if there’s not enough data preparation.
“It’s a regulatory compliance tool,” he said of his pitch.
Evans used the banking industry as an example: Banks have reports they must regularly complete and teams of employees to compile them. An AI model can comb through various data, assisting those employees.
“This has significantly cut down their timelines,” Evans said.
The AI models can be taught to look for specific types of data that would indicate fraud, as well as industry jargon that could confuse an AI.
The showcase stemmed from Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order last year that focused the state on AI and its potential uses. Newsom wants California to remain the world’s leader in the field while building a future of trustworthy, transparent and ethical AI.
The vendors at Thursday’s showcase had a series of challenges the state has identified, like streamlining legislative research and ensuring accuracy in data.
Jeffery Marino, director of the state’s Office of Data and Innovation, is looking for AI to help local jurisdictions with their reporting requirements.
California has over 500 entities that receive state dollars. Those beneficiaries must submit annual reports to the state — and the reports can grow weighty. Marino said many of them contain narratives. Generative AI could examine those reports, pull out the pertinent information and present that to a human, saving much time.
“GenAI can actually give them those powers,” Marino said. “I would like to see it in place yesterday.”
The state has two goals concerning AI. It must be developed quickly, ensuring California isn’t left behind in the race. It also must be safe and protect people.
That urgency led to the showcase. It’s rare for multiple state agencies to work together on a project, which also includes the Legislature and outside vendors like Evans.
The event wasn’t the same as procurement — a pronouncement made a handful of times on Thursday — which is a process that involves strict rules on how a government obtains goods and services from an outside source.
Rather, Thursday’s showcase was a new way of doing things, much like AI itself.
“Everybody is talking about AI these days, but it’s still a mystery to folks,” said Amy Tong, secretary of government operations.
She kicked off Thursday’s session, announcing that some vendors attending might be partners while others were competitors. She urged everyone, regardless of status, to start a conversation if they see something that piques their interest.
Over 40 innovators attended the showcase, bringing almost 80 pitches to the state’s identified challenges. Tong sees the state agencies involved in the process to use October to refine those pitches. A formal procurement process could start soon afterward, but actual implementation is likely a year away.
Tong said any AI-related project likely wouldn’t start out statewide. Instead, it would be a pilot program focused on a particular region.
She also emphasized that potential effects on the state’s workforce would be top of mind when considering pitches. The new technology is meant to augment, not replace, people.
“We want to take this nice and steady,” Tong said.
