Governor Unveils AI Tool and Training Course for State Employees

On Jul 3, 2024

Gov. Phil Murphy today announced the launch of the NJ AI Assistant, a generative AI-powered platform for New Jersey State employees, along with the roll out of one of the nation’s first generative AI (GenAI) training programs for state employees.

The NJ AI Assistant is a GenAI tool for staff at State departments and agencies to use responsibly improve government services and operations. The tool is hosted on State infrastructure, features security and privacy protections, and does not use State data to train a third-party AI model.

The release of the NJ AI Assistant comes with the launch of a baseline GenAI training course that instructs State government professionals in how to responsibly use the technology to deliver the best possible service to the New Jersey residents. According to a press release from the governor’s office, “The training, created in partnership with InnovateUS, was specifically designed for State workers and helps ensure any use of AI is safe, secure, respectful of residents’ privacy, free of bias, and in line with State policies.”

“With the launch of the State’s very own AI Assistant and the GenAI training course, we are on the cusp of a new era of government transformation. We are empowering our public servants with the knowledge, skills, and training to comfortably and responsibly leverage this technology to solve real problems for New Jerseyans,“ Murphy said. “I look forward to all the ways our State departments and agencies will put this technology to good use, ensuring New Jersey remains the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

“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. “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.”

Designed in consultation with federal, state, industry, and academic leaders as well as New Jersey’s public sector workforce, the AI training course offers an overview of generative AI, best practices for responsible use in day-to-day work, and strategies for identifying and overcoming risks like bias. The training also provides hands-on guidance in how to use GenAI to suggest plain language improvements to public information, summarize lengthy documents, brainstorm and generate new content, and more. The course is free and voluntary for all State employees and can be completed at an individual’s own pace.

Meanwhile, the NJ AI Assistant provides State employees with a powerful AI tool to test the use cases described in the training on a secure platform with heightened security and data protections.

State departments and agencies have already begun using generative AI in limited cases to improve services. Working with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Office of Innovation has used AI to help rewrite emails in plain language and residents have been responding 35% faster as a result. At the ANCHOR property tax program call center, the New Jersey Division of Taxation has been using AI tools to analyze calls to generate better self-service menu options, so residents can find what they need without waiting on hold to speak to an agent, leading to a 50% increase in the number of successfully resolved calls.

The AI training and NJ AI Assistant tool build on the policy Governor Murphy announced in November that guides State employees in responsibly using generative AI to improve how government delivers services to New Jersey residents. These moves come as part of Executive Order No. 346, which established the New Jersey AI Task Force and also directed the State’s Office of Information Technology to develop policies to govern and facilitate use of artificial intelligence technologies by Executive Branch departments and agencies.

The AI training course is available to State government employees through the New Jersey Civil Service Commission’s learning management system.

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