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Massachusetts Dabbles in Generative AI: ‘ChatGPT With Controls’

As the tech world continues to buzz about the potential of generative artificial intelligence tools, Massachusetts CIO Jason Snyder describes what may be one of the technology’s first uses in state government.

Massachusetts CIO Jason Snyder
Government Technology/David Kidd
"I believe that generative AI is going to be completely transformative for government as well as for society," Utah CIO Alan Fuller told GT at the NASCIO Midyear conference earlier this month. "I think it's as big as the Internet; I think it's going to change lots of things."

Many of Fuller's peers also see vast potential for the technology, though few have put it to use in their IT environments just yet.

One exception is Massachusetts CIO Jason Snyder, who revealed his views on where generative AI tech like ChatGPT and roughly equivalent tools from Google and Microsoft could be harnessed in the future, including for "some of the more routine processes" in finance and human resources.

Here, Snyder talks about how the commonwealth is using ChatGPT today, describing the deployment as "ChatGPT with controls," versus using the technology more broadly to do truly generative work.

"We have a whole series of business rules associated with it," he said.

Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.
e.Republic Executive Editor Noelle Knell is a contributing editor to Emergency Management magazine.