Tech Secretary Assesses AI Impacts On Workforce

The secretary said the state will be focused on creating training and educational opportunities for students and working professionals to keep up in the quickly-evolving field.

Gov. Maura Healey established an AI Task Force in February "to create specific recommendations for how the state can best support the state’s businesses in leading sectors around AI adoption... [and] produce recommendations focused on startups’ ability to scale and succeed in Massachusetts."

The task force plans to publish its report in the next few weeks, with a strong focus on economic opportunities of AI, Snyder said.

"When the executive order was signed, states were locking down AI usage," Snyder said. "In fact, the state of Maine actually banned the use of AI by their employees until they could better understand the risk associated with AI. Our focus in Massachusetts has been different. It's truly focused on understanding the opportunities that exist and understanding risk, of course, but through usage."

Generative AI models, like the popular ChatGPT, collect user data and train their models on the information users willingly put into them. There are other risks as well, including that AI can be used to create malicious tools like phishing emails and deepfake videos, and facilitate cyberattacks and spread harmful misinformation.

Snyder said because publicly-accessed GenAI collects data from its users, it is "clearly" a risk for government use. The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security created a walled off, secured environment that allowed them to experiment with GenAI in a way that does not allow their data to train large public language models, he said.

Last month, the office held a "science fair" style competition for project ideas to use AI to improve state government services. The entry that won would simplify the online presentation of child care options for families.

"As a father of five, I can definitely see that value. I've spent a lot of time online trying to find day care for my kids, and so having the ability to use AI to simplify what's available is incredible," Snyder said.

He said another area where AI could become useful in the operation of state government is in defending against cybersecurity threats. Bad actors are using the technology to build websites that look similar to official government emails and landing pages, he said, and reaching out to people with phishing attacks.

The way to combat the rapidly evolving AI-powered attacks is to use AI to defend against them, Snyder said.

In a partnership with Northeastern University, the state Highway Department experimented this year with using AI on engineering projects. Previously, Snyder said, before building a bridge, the department would have to spend weeks researching all the relevant local, state and federal policy about the area in which they were building. Now, they can use AI to call up all the relevant policy in a matter of minutes, rather than weeks of combing through online databases.

"We're actually using this technology to improve services that we deliver to the state's residents," Snyder said.

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