This post by Julia Edinger featured on govtech.com. Read the article online here.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration has teamed up with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to launch a new AI pilot focused on improving community engagement in Washington, D.C.

Bowser has taken action to advance value-driven AI adoption in the district, and the newly launched pilot is not the first AI-powered tool her government has implemented.

Now, the district is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Governance Lab (MIT GOV/LAB) and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab (Stanford DEL) to use a new AI tool from these partners known as deliberation.io. The tool is intended to support large-scale open dialog between residents and help the district gather feedback.

Specifically, the district will be using the tool to gather reactions around its forthcoming AI Public Listening Session July 15.

During this session, residents are invited to learn about the government’s efforts on AI, hear from technology leaders, share public input, and identify solutions that support public interests.

The listening sessions, led by the OCTO, are a result of the mayor’s February 2024 order. Previous sessions focused on initial AI pilots and AI for education services, Chief Technology Officer Stephen Miller said, but the next will address issues including language access, accessibility, communication and usability.

“Now, we’re starting to look at how we’re using technology for things like accessibility, or how we’re using it to make the government more efficient or more effective,” Miller said.

OCTO, Stanford DEL and MIT GOV/LAB will work together during the pilot to ensure topics that are discussed are relevant to district residents. The partners will collect data, conduct an analysis and share a report when the pilot is complete.

The Bowser administration plans to make the deliberation.io tool more widely available pending the pilot’s results.

Photo courtesy govtech.com