Politics and Analysis

The Public Sector needs to get on the AI Train now

• Print
• Del
• Tilmeld nyhedsbrev

Increased use of AI in the public sector can eliminate current tasks and support smarter workflows. It will make the daily lives of many public sector employees easier. And by 2040, it could free up around 6,000 employees per year. They would be able to perform other tasks in the public or private sector instead. These are some of the findings in a new report commissioned by the Confederation of Danish Employers, DA. Based on the report, DA has made seven recommendations to politicians on how to ensure a wise and targeted phasing-in of AI in the public sector.

The public sector should not wait on the sidelines when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It is high time to seize the future and utilise the full potential of the new technologies. According to a new in-depth analysis conducted by the Boston Consulting Group for DA, AI has the potential to revolutionise the public sector in the coming years by facilitating workflows and ensuring that employees use their time in a better and smarter way; on tasks they are good at.

Based on a detailed mapping of which tasks the individual job categories in the public sector spend their time on, the consulting firm estimates that approximately 90,000 employees could be freed up in just over 15 years with a gradual phasing-in of AI throughout the public sector. This corresponds to around 6,000 on average per year. The greatest potential, by far, is found in relation to administrative tasks, where AI tools can make the workday both easier and more satisfying for employees. This applies to everybody, from lawyers to social workers.

According to Jacob Holbraad, Director General at DA, the report emphasises that it is an urgent task for politicians and leaders in the public sector to consider and create the best framework for the use of AI in all areas.

- The labour shortage in both the private and public sectors, now and in the coming years, is so significant that we have a shared obligation to make the best possible use of public employees' time. Artificial Intelligence can be of great assistance in this endeavour. If used wisely, AI can help bring the professionalism of public sector employees more into play and increase employee well-being and job satisfaction, because skilled employees no longer have to spend time on some of the more boring and routine tasks,’ says Jacob Holbraad.

He states that the employees who can be freed from their current tasks through the use of AI will provide a welcome boost in other areas of the public sector – such as senior care – and in the private sector, where there will be labour shortages in the coming years.

Need for political and management focus

Based on the analysis, DA has made seven recommendations to politicians on how to ensure the best framework for a wise and targeted phasing-in of AI, which must take place gradually in the coming years.

- Increasing the use of AI in the public sector will not happen by itself. It requires a strong political and management focus and, furthermore, it is important to involve employees. At the same time, there are some barriers that we need to break down if we are to reap the full benefits of AI in the public sector. In particular, this applies to legislation and other regulations, which currently contain too many inappropriate requirements and uncertainties in relation to the introduction of AI,’ says Jacob Holbraad

Among other things, DA proposes a code of conduct for the phasing-in and use of AI in the public sector, retraining of employees and specific targets for fewer administrative employees and realising the benefits of AI at state, regional and municipal levels.

Click here for an English version of Chapter 1 of the report that the Boston Consulting Group has conducted for DA. This chapter gives an overview of the main findings of the report.