Lawmakers are pushing Wisconsin agencies to consider how they use artificial intelligence tools to make their work more efficient, an effort state workers and their allies fear could be used to ultimately slim the number of human workers employed by the state.
AI has started to become an option for state and local governments, both within Wisconsin and across the country. The rise of publicly available tools, such as ChatGPT, signals the rise of other tools designed to streamline tasks traditionally performed by humans.
Both Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Gov. Tony Evers have launched panels to explore the use of AI in Wisconsin and come up with a framework to regulate and utilize the new technologies.
As part of Vos’ task force, a group of lawmakers are proposing a requirement that state agencies begin cutting positions at the end of the decade. With that in mind, they would need to begin regularly updating the Legislature on their use of AI and how they plan to use the tools to make government more efficient, including trimming the size of their workforce.
That proposal passed the Assembly Thursday on a voice vote, meaning it is unclear how many members voted in support or opposition
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