With the explosion of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is an urgent and global need to educate public servants and governments about the important and rapidly evolving field of AI. At Apolitical — the social learning platform for government used by 200,000+ public servants worldwide — we responded to this challenge by launching the Government AI Campus. A year into the Campus, we know that public servants worldwide are eager to receive practical guidance to help them use AI. For one, our polling shows that 60% of public servants are using generative AI. But what are they using it for? We know it’s helping many public servants complete research and writing tasks with greater efficiency. Some are developing more complex use cases in policy and service delivery. But what is clear to us is that these different uses all require specific skills, from understanding privacy issues and avoiding bias to effectively prompting tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity.ai. 

Yet, despite using generative AI frequently, most public servants have not received any training on how to use it. 

The Government AI Campus is set up to bridge this gap and meet public servants’ needs, offering courses, events and resources all designed to help public servants experiment responsibly. The Campus includes a global community of practice where public servants can exchange ideas and resources — it is growing at pace, with over 2,000 public servants using it to share knowledge and insights and case studies on AI use in government. There are 10,000 free places available on the AI Campus to individuals and departments worldwide. 

We believe that public servants working in local government face unique challenges that the AI Campus is set up to help them tackle, from limited resources to the need for efficient service delivery. The courses, events and resources included on the Campus are designed to help government officials harness AI for more effective research, writing and strategic planning. In local government, AI can help optimise operations, enhance decision-making, help stretch budgets further and improve public services. By joining the AI in Government Community of Practice, public servants working in local government can exchange solutions and innovative ideas with their counterparts worldwide. This collaborative environment can boost individual capability and strengthen local governments’ overall effectiveness in meeting their communities’ needs.

We invite you to sign up to Apolitical and book a place on the AI campus today. You can enrol on Understanding How AI Impacts You and Your Government — a foundational course on generative AI — immediately after joining. Alternatively, you can join the Community of Practice or read articles by AI experts around the world, focussing on topics like building AI-ready governments and digital bureaucracies. 

Finally, we’re always looking for public servants to tell us more about how they’re using AI, if they’re using it at all. Whether you’re an AI champion or an AI sceptic, your insights are crucial. Take the anonymous generative AI survey when you have a moment to help shape the global knowledge base on generative AI in government. 

The founding funders of the Government AI Campus are the Rockefeller Foundation and Google.org.

This blog has been written by Apolitical.