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Finding a Balance: Practical Ways to Apply AI in Government

Incoming Nevada CIO Michael Dietrich appreciates the potential of artificial intelligence, as long as the risks are also considered.

Nevada CIO Michael Dietrich
Nevada CIO Michael Dietrich
BALTIMORE — Fresh out of the private sector, Nevada CIO Michael Dietrich appreciates the potential represented by technologies gaining ground in the consumer market, like artificial intelligence that's good enough at replicating human emotions to fool actual humans.

"That's all really cool stuff but at the state level, at the government level, we have to look at what is the practical, the meaningful application of these emerging technologies," he said in an interview at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Midyear conference this week in Baltimore.

Cybersecurity is one area where Dietrich feels AI could be particularly helpful to the public sector.

"If an artificial intelligence is able to learn and make decisions and have those capabilities, it would be a great thing for cybersecurity, for an AI to actually be looking at patterns on the network, to be looking at traffic, and be able to make human life decisions of, 'Oh, this is something that's malicious.'" 

Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.