Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Public Service Awareness Course
|
Date: 1st September 2025 |
Public service institutions around the world are under increasing pressure to respond to rapid technological transformation, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence. From managing digital service delivery and workforce adaptation to grappling with new regulatory responsibilities and ethical risks, government bodies often lack the tools, frameworks, and clarity needed to navigate this shift confidently. The speed of innovation frequently outpaces the ability of public institutions to respond strategically. This can lead to gaps in readiness, reputational risk, and missed opportunities for better governance and citizen engagement.
Governments and public institutions are under pressure to respond to the rise of AI-but most are not yet prepared. Despite AI's growing impact on public services, infrastructure, policymaking, and public trust, many civil servants and policymakers lack the time, context, or clarity to understand what AI really is, how it works, and what it means for them.
This creates a dangerous and often overlooked readiness gap in four key areas:
- Awareness & Understanding: most senior decision-makers are overwhelmed by hype and misinformation, and lack confidence in navigating AI debates or technologies.
- Policy Lag: while the private sector rapidly experiments with AI, governments risk falling behind on regulation, innovation, and global influence.
- Ethical & Operational Risk: without foundational knowledge, institutions are at greater risk of adopting AI tools poorly leading to bias, opacity, or public backlash.
- Missed Opportunities for Leadership: governments that fail to engage early with AI risk missing out on improved services, smarter policymaking, and international alignment.
To combat this, we are delighted to invite you to a short "Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Public Service Awareness Course" that is designed specifically to enable attendees to understand the steps to solve these problems-not by making public officials into AI experts, but by giving them the language, context, and confidence to:
- Understand the technology in plain terms
- Comprehend key trends and their implications
- Ask the right questions
- Spot risks early
- Make smarter, safer, and more strategic decisions
It's not about pushing AI-it's about empowering responsible public leadership in an AI-driven world.
This session is for public service officials who want to build institutional resilience, avoid reputational risk for the organisation, and to stay credible in fast-moving global policy debates.
You don't need to be an AI expert-but you do need to know what's at stake.
Agenda
| Why AI matters for the public service right now |
| What is AI (and what it isn't) |
Definitions:
|
| Current capabilities and limitations |
| Myth-busting AI narratives |
Government case studies:
|
| Risks: bias, black-box decision-making, outsourcing oversight |
| Real vs performative innovation |
Risks & Opportunities:
|
| Legal and ethical frameworks |
| Workforce and skills implications |
| Procurement challenges |
| Public trust and legitimacy |
| Trends & Look to the Future |
| Top tech trends to consider |
|
Top geopolitical and regulatory trends and models: (overview of global AI regulation - EU AI Act, US Executive Order, China's model) |
| Introduction of AI Readiness Health Check |
Materials Provided for learners:
- AI Slide Deck (with speaker notes)
- Plain-language glossary of terms and acronyms
- AI Readiness Health Check Form (fillable PDF or Google Form)
- 1-page handout: "AI Risks & Responsibilities for Public Service Leaders"
- Links to relevant international frameworks (OECD, UNESCO, EU AI Act)