State’s AI Task Force Makes Recommendations

On Nov 13, 2024

Gov. Phil Murphy has received the Report to the Governor on Artificial Intelligence from the Artificial Intelligence Task Force. With AI’s potential to be transformative across public and private sectors, the task force identifies courses of action that aim to ensure that the state leverages AI in a responsible and ethical manner to improve government services, achieve equity, and catalyze economic opportunities for residents. In particular, the report focuses on Generative AI (GenAI), exploring how new technologies may impact government operations, as well as the state’s economy, workforce, and communities.

Divided into four Working Groups, the AI Task Force closely evaluated and made recommendations for the following areas: 1. Security, Safety, and Privacy Considerations for AI Use Cases, 2. Workforce Training, Jobs of the Future, and Training Public Professionals, 3. AI, Equity, and Literacy, and 4. Making New Jersey a Hub for AI Innovation.

To inform its findings and recommendations, the Task Force led a nation-leading effort to survey New Jersey’s workforce, residents, institutions, and businesses on their views on AI technologies. The Task Force, through partnerships with Rutgers University, the Heldrich Center, and State agencies, surveyed thousands of public and private workers in the state, as well as businesses, the state’s higher education institutions, and residents.

Recommendations included ways to expand opportunities for AI education and literacy, promote a strong workforce and AI talent pipeline, address biases and discrimination, foster a collaborative AI innovation ecosystem and economy across the state, and bolster the State’s use of GenAI to support policy outcomes and improve the resident experience.

The initiative is part of Murphy’s commitment to make New Jersey a national leader in AI. The Executive Order that established this Task Force also announced a nation-leading initiative to educate New Jersey’s state workforce about the development, use, and risks of AI, and directed the Administration to evaluate tools and strategies to improve government services through artificial intelligence, as well as explore ways in which artificial intelligence can stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and be deployed by employers to enhance training and talent development, especially for low-income residents.

In the time since:

• The governor has unveiled an AI Tool for State employees, the NJ AI Assistant, used by over 7,000 State workers, and a comprehensive State training program, of which over 9,000 employees have started or completed;
• New Jersey and Princeton University have partnered together to create a new “AI Hub” to catalyze AI research, start-ups, and workforce development;
• The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is implementing Next New Jersey (P.L.2024, c.49), a new program that provides tax credits for businesses engaged in artificial intelligence work; and
• The New Jersey Department of Education is standing up new AI education grants focused on both teaching with AI and teaching about AI, as well as creating new AI-focused Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming.

“As AI technologies continue to expand and advance at an unprecedented pace, New Jersey remains at the forefront, building up the Garden State as a hub for innovation,” said Murphy. “This report details the potential for AI to improve the efficiency of state government services for our residents, while supporting our mission of building an equitable opportunity economy in the Garden State. I am grateful to the Task Force for their recommendations and look forward to implementing them in the coming months.”

The Task Force was led by Co-Chairs Chief AI Strategist Dr. Beth Noveck, Office of Information Technology Chief Technology Officer Christopher Rein, and Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Tim Sullivan, as well as members that include the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, the Commissioner of the Department of Education, the Secretary of Higher Education, the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the Attorney General, or their designees. The Task Force consulted with industry leaders, academic experts, consumer advocates, and government innovators to build out its recommendations.

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