Velocity by Booz Allen

EMBRACING AI IN THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE: A New Era of Productivity and Efficiency

As we venture into the era of AI—with generative AI bringing the conversation mainstream—we find ourselves standing at the precipice of yet another paradigm-shifting transition. Researchers from OpenAI, OpenResearch, and the University of Pennsylvania argue that:

Government as a catalyst for national security and to reimagine citizen services. In response to the national and global AI race, this article explores the profound impact of AI on the workforce and approaches to fostering a digitally proficient enterprise with broad access to AI adoption. National Urgency for AI Talent The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) report delivers an uncomfortable message regarding national security and AI: “America is not prepared to defend or compete in the AI era. … While much remains to be learned about the power and limits of AI technologies, big decisions need to be made now to accelerate AI innovation to benefit the [U.S.] and to defend against the malign uses of AI.” AI is transforming the global economy and has become a key driver of economic growth and military capabilities. Nations that excel in AI development and deployment will secure substantial advantages in economic productivity, defense capabilities, and intelligence gathering. Consequently, the report emphasizes the urgent need for the U.S. to compete and win the global competition for AI talent. Despite the exponential growth of AI as a field, the number of domestic-born students pursuing AI doctorates in the U.S. has remained stagnant since 1990. This stagnation raises concerns about the nation’s ability to meet the demand for skilled AI professionals and threatens its position as a leader. While the NSCAI report projects a shortage of 250,000 data scientists by 2025 in the U.S., the 2023 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan report projects computer and information science positions will grow by 22% between 2020 and 2030. According to this report, “the resulting economic growth could be large: AI research is expected to contribute as much as $11.5 trillion in cumulative growth across G20 countries alone over the same period.” Against a backdrop of trepidation and understandable unease, an undercurrent of excitement is emerging, stemming from the remarkable possibilities that the accelerated and monumental progress of AI holds for global industries of every kind—particularly for the Federal Government as a catalyst for national security and to reimagine citizen services.

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is reinforcing an effort to develop proper data, knowledge and skills, and workforce curation and analysis techniques by authorizing the National Science Foundation to generate a study of U.S. universities that conduct high-impact AI research to better understand what factors enable AI progress. There is still much to be learned, but these reports emphasize the need for the U.S. to focus on talent development across the public sector. There is an urgency to maintain the U.S.'s position in the global AI talent race, despite apprehensions within the workforce. Therefore, a pivotal question emerges: How can we address apprehensions and equip a larger talent pool to shape this transformation? Demystifying AI in the Workforce AI is finally unlocking opportunities for many organizations and agencies to “do more with less.” Undoubtedly, the downstream effect is that AI will disrupt and eliminate certain job functions, as is typical with any emerging technology that offers automation capabilities. Within the talent ranks, whether in technical or nontechnical roles, this proposition understandably sparks concern and anxiety. But let us be clear: AI can’t automate or solve everything. Rather, AI can automate pieces of most jobs, resulting in streamlined processes, increased throughput, Conversation with Johnny C. Taylor Jr. , CEO of the Society for HR Management (SHRM) The SHRM Omnibus Survey reveals a significant portion of working Americans believe AI can enhance their performance and make their jobs better. Additionally, recent SHRM research found half of U.S. workers believe AI will improve their workplaces, trusting their organizations to effectively train them to utilize new technologies. Still, 23% of U.S. workers fear job displacement due to automation in the next five years. Johnny C. Taylor Jr., CEO of SHRM, emphasizes the “importance of organizations communicating frequently with employees about how AI will be used in an organization, reassuring them the purpose of integrating new technologies is not to displace workers.” The rapid evolution of AI in the workplace is undeniable— and the trend toward automation and AI in recruitment, hiring, and performance management is on the rise. In fact, as of 2022, nearly a quarter of organizations have already

integrated AI to support HR activities, resulting in faster hiring processes. “For the federal workforce, the future hinges on proper training, staying updated with AI legislation, and embracing the synergy of AI and human intelligence

(HI),” Taylor says. With training and education, organizations can actively engage with—and thereby address— emerging issues such as hallucination, intellectual property concerns, biases in algorithms, and ever-expanding use cases. Ultimately, to remain competitive in talent acquisition, Taylor reinforces that federal leaders should

of the workforce could have at least 10% of their work affected by the implementation of large language models.

embrace AI instead of avoiding it. “The mindset shift needs to start at the top.”

of the workforce could see an impact to at least half of their work.

and automation of repetitive operations. In practice, this human-machine teaming “unbundles” tasks so repetitive assignments (the monotony of which often leads to mistakes) are offloaded and humans can reserve their time and energy for high-order critical thinking and problem-solving.

of all work tasks in the U.S. “could be completed significantly faster at the same level of quality.”

AI can’t automate or solve everything. Rather, AI can automate pieces of most jobs, resulting in streamlined processes, increased throughput, and automation of repetitive operations.

Naturally, there will be apprehension regarding job displacement, along with growing concerns and anxiety surrounding the potentially deepening digital divide. Society will need to care for those impacted by the real transition costs of AI in the short term, despite the broader economic predictions. As Marc Andreessen highlights in his article “Why AI Will Save the World,” society has been through two technology-driven unemployment panic cycles in our recent past—the outsourcing panic of the 2000s and the automation panic of the 2010s. However, despite dialogue suggesting unemployment was inevitable, by late 2019 the world had more jobs at higher wages than ever in history. Against a backdrop of trepidation and understandable unease, an undercurrent of excitement is emerging, stemming from the remarkable possibilities that the accelerated and monumental progress of AI holds for global industries of every kind—particularly for the Federal

Realistically, workforce transformation in the age of AI does not directly equal job transformation. Instead of broad-brush changes, there needs to be a nuanced lens applied at the task level to evaluate where AI can serve as an aid and where traditional skillsets need to be preserved. In the study cited earlier from OpenAI, OpenResearch, and the University of Pennsylvania, researchers reinforce the idea that “each job is