The New York City Artificial Intelligence Action Plan

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as a revolutionary technology that is rapidly changing the way we work, travel, conduct research, deliver healthcare, provide public services, and more. In particular, the emergence of ground-breaking generative AI tools over the last year has simultaneously sparked tremendous excitement, profound concern, and intense speculation about their potential far-reaching impacts on humanity.

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Broadly defined, AI describes a wide variety of technologies that use data to make predictions, inferences, recommendations, rankings, or other decisions. While AI technologies have recently captured the public imagination by producing images and text on command, the reality is that they have existed for decades in diverse forms and uses. Indeed, these technologies have for many years impacted our lives and society, through now familiar and mundane tools that filter spam from our email, support our medical care, and optimize the use of energy in our homes and workplaces. And while the current moment has brought the promise and perils of AI into sharper focus, these technologies have long presented both wide-ranging opportunities and risks.

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Today, governments across the world are grappling with these realities, working to harness the power of AI tools for public benefit, while governing them carefully to protect their people and values. As a global innovation leader, New York City must be at the forefront of these efforts.

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AI technologies offer a wide range of opportunities to make government run better for New Yorkers. Prudent use of AI can improve operational efficiency, social equity, environmental sustainability, and more. At the same time, use of AI tools can pose a range of risks for individuals and communities – whether due to lack of appropriate governance, misuse, flawed design, or other factors. Absent appropriate oversight and governance, some uses of AI could lead not only to benign inaccuracies or unintended results, but also data privacy or cybersecurity vulnerabilities, negative environmental impacts, or even serious bias, disparate impacts, and active harms. Further, the complexity of many AI applications and the fact that their mechanics are not always visible or understandable pose unique transparency and accountability challenges, which are particularly pronounced for governments working in service to the public.

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In recent years, New York City has grappled with the opportunities and challenges AI presents through pioneering efforts in the public reporting of algorithmic tools, foundational work to clarify opportunities and risks and assess the state of the local AI ecosystem, and diverse agency-level work to develop innovative AI solutions.

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While this work represents significant progress, there is now a need to press forward with a holistic set of actions that will help the city harness the power of AI to benefit New Yorkers while protecting them from its potential harms. To this end, the New York City AI Action Plan sets out priority initiatives for city government that speak to the urgency of our present moment and chart a clear course forward.