What the federal workforce could look like with AI government employees

Artificial intelligence agents have the potential to enhance federal employees’ productivity and improve the effectiveness of services they provide to the public, but they also could expedite removals of government workers and experience a host of implementation problems, experts recently told Government Executive.

What is an AI agent and could they replace federal employees? 

AI agents are trained to perform tasks and can act as virtual personal assistants. 

For example, Paul Tatum, executive vice president for Global Public Sector at Salesforce, said at the customer service technology contractor’s Washington, D.C., conference on March 19 that he created a draft agent that could advise on implementing the U.S. International Trade Commission’s harmonized tariff schedule — a dense, frequently updated document that specifies tariff rates for imports. 

“Here comes my import package of avocados. [I ask the agent] ‘Hey, help me out. I haven’t read last month’s ...