New Jersey Launches AI Platform and Training Program for State Employees

State government is getting serious about maximizing AI’s potential for making operations smoother and more efficient.

For example, governors in states including Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia have formed special AI-focused task forces charged with determining how artificial intelligence can best and most ethically be used in government agencies.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has convened a similar task force, and the Garden State has also enlisted the help of its roughly 67,000 government employees in shaping its AI strategy going forward.

Throughout the month of June, New Jersey invited employees from more than two dozen state agencies to participate in a survey of public sector employees’ knowledge, attitudes and interests around AI. Answers to the voluntary, anonymous 10-minute survey “will inform the state’s AI upskilling plans and pilot projects.”

More recently, New Jersey has unveiled a new AI-powered platform that seeks to provide these same state employees with a safe environment to increase their knowledge of AI and responsibly improve New Jersey government operations in the process.

In July, Gov. Murphy announced the launch of the NJ AI Assistant AI platform for New Jersey state employees, along with “one of the nation’s first comprehensive generative AI training program for state employees,” according to an announcement from Gov. Murphy’s office.

The NJ AI assistant was designed to offer a “safe, ‘sandbox’ environment for staff at state and departments,” according to the same statement, which noted that the tool enables state employees to test use cases described in the aforementioned training “on a secure platform with heightened security and data protections.”

Created in consultation with federal, state, industry and academic leaders, the new baseline generative AI training course was developed specifically for instructing state government workers on the responsible use of AI “to deliver the best possible service to the people of New Jersey,” according to Gov. Murphy’s office.

The training course provides an overview of generative AI, best practices for responsible use on an everyday basis, and strategies for identifying and overcoming the risks associated with AI. The free, voluntary and self-paced course also offers hands-on guidance on using generative AI to suggest plain language improvements, summarize lengthy documents, brainstorm and generate new content, for example, Gov. Murphy’s office said.

“Generative AI is evolving in real time, and now our public workforce will be on the forefront of advancing this technology and helping to realize its boundless potential to build a better New Jersey,” said New Jersey State Chief AI Strategist Beth Simone Noveck, in a statement.

“This tool and training will help state departments enhance public service delivery, improve efficiency and ensure these innovations are accessible and beneficial to all New Jerseyans, while protecting their rights and privacy.”