Artificial Intelligence

Colleges and universities know they need to get students comfortable with using artificial intelligence tools, but discussions should focus more on people and pedagogy than rules, regulations and specific brands.

The city is using a tool with artificial intelligence to respond to more than 40 percent of its nonemergency interactions — freeing public safety dispatchers from over 900 hours of talk time to focus on real emergency calls.

The 40,000-square-foot Helix AI and Medical Academy, which can house upwards of 600 students, will begin teaching K-5 students this fall how to utilize and prepare for AI in future job markets.

Chief Data Officer Christie Burris details how the state is building a data ecosystem where policy meets platform and AI can play a role in evolving traditional data life cycles.

The state’s technology department officially opened its Innovation Lab this week — a dedicated space for ethical AI experimentation aimed at advancing public service.

Former Director of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services Steven Harpe now leads the state's corrections agency, and he's harnessing AI to reshape safety, staffing and daily operations in state prisons.

AI courses in San Jose are helping city employees save thousands of work hours, improving efficiencies and service for residents, while a new Oregon program is familiarizing state workers with generative AI.

A recent report by Common Sense Media says three quarters of teens have used AI companions, which are designed to be agreeable and validating. More than a third found them more "satisfying" than interacting with friends.

The 2026-27 Ohio budget mandates that K-12 districts create policies to govern the use of artificial intelligence and cellphones, and offers a handful of $100,000 grants to community colleges for implementing AI.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is entering a one-year pilot project with transportation firm Flow Labs to more closely analyze traffic and signal data from thousands of intersections.

From traffic management to smart trash cans, Raleigh, N.C., is quickly moving to introduce artificial intelligence tools into smart city platforms and projects.

Projects announced at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University this week included new workforce training programs as well as cybersecurity education for middle and high schoolers.

Replika, Kindroid and Character.AI are marketed as entertainment apps or ways to help people develop emotional wellness. But some research shows prolonged interaction can lead to increased feelings of loneliness.

The prediction came after nearly two dozen companies at this week’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit announced plans for more than $90 billion in development projects across Pennsylvania.

AI models are trained to optimize outputs, but in educating children, the process is the point. If we assess children only in terms of what can be “trained,” we repeat the mistake of emphasizing output over experience.

The communications, community engagement and compliance tech company has launched its first AI chatbot, and the company’s CEO recently discussed its inner workings.

In light of federal plans to phase out FEMA by the end of 2025, artificial intelligence can help multiply and streamline state and local preparation for, response to and recovery from wildfires, hurricanes and floods.

The city of San Francisco is making Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat available to roughly 30,000 employees in an effort to improve services while also launching training to support staff use of the technology.