The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector and Government Institutions

This chapter presents an analysis of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in the public sectorand government institutions. It assesses the transformative potential of AI technologies acrossvarious government functions and examines related governance challenges through asystematic analysis of academic literature, policy frameworks and practical examples. Theapplication of computational approaches to government functions predates the contemporaryAI paradigm by decades. The first examples of “smart” systems in public administration weredeveloped in the 1980s and 1990s through rule-based expert systems designed to systematizeadministrative decision-making. The shift from rule-based to learning-based systems is notmerely a technical change. Today, the use of AI in the public sector and governmentinstitutions is defined by the development of Machine Learning (ML), particularly DeepLearning (DL), which enables systems to detect patterns and make predictions without the need for specific rules. The analysis reveals that while AI offers significant opportunities toimprove public service delivery, operational efficiency and policy analytics, these benefitsdepend on addressing fundamental governance imperatives such as algorithmic fairness,transparency, accountability and institutional capacity building. However, realizing thispotential while maintaining a commitment to democratic values requires thoughtfulgovernance approaches that address both technical and institutional dimensions. The mosteffective applications will be those that align technological innovation with core public values,enhancing government capacity while maintaining fundamental commitments to equity,justice and democratic oversight.