News that Caught Our Eye #63

Published on June 18, 2025

Summary

In the news this week: Immigrant communities are using AI-powered apps to navigate the Trump administration’s surge in deportations. Amsterdam’s experiment developing an algorithmic welfare fraud detection system sparks a debate about whether AI can ever be bias-free. Gallup finds that the share of Americans using AI at work has doubled in two years. African democracies are using AI to strengthen civic engagement, while cities around the world deploy AI-powered systems to adapt to extreme heat. OpenAI wins a $200 million defense contract for national security AI tools. While New York advances legislation to guard against AI-fueled disasters, Beth Simone Noveck argues that the debate about the moratorium on state AI laws obscures the question of how we actually use these tools to fix our broken institutions. Read more in this week’s AI News That Caught Our Eye.

Upcoming InnovateUS Workshops

InnovateUS delivers no-cost, at-your-own-pace, and live learning on data, digital, innovation, and AI skills. Designed for civic and public sector, programs are free and open to all.

June 24, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: Building Better Access: Portland’s GenAI Pilot for Smarter Permitting Appointments Hilaire Brockmeyer, Interim Business Solutions Division Manager, City of Portland, Oregon, Cristy Rowley, UX Researcher, US Digital Response
June 26, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: Community Engagement for Public Professionals: Surveys Deborah Stine, Founder and Chief Instructor, Science and Technology Policy Academy
July 8, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: AI Regulation Across Borders: Who’s Setting the Rules—and Why It Matters Vance Ricks, Associate Teaching Professor, Northeastern University
July 9, 2025, 2:00 PM ET: Making Digital Services Accessible: Why Inclusive Design Matters for Everyone Joe Oakhart, Principal Software Engineer, Nava

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Governing AI

The debate over state-level AI bans misses the point

Beth Simone Noveck on June 16, 2025 in Fast Company

“Both sides are missing the point entirely as Congress debates the proposed 10-year ban on state AI laws contained in the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ The current wrangling over who should regulate privacy, deepfakes, and bias in AI confuses the forest for the trees because it solely focuses on who decides what we should not do… we must expand the debate to include how we can actually improve our institutions with AI. Not just corporate-owned tools like ChatGPT, but AI tools specifically designed from the ground up for government.”

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Governing AI

AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation Worse

David Gilbert on June 10, 2025 in Wired

“Disinformation about the Los Angeles protests is spreading on social media networks and is being made worse by users turning to AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT to perform fact-checking…conservative posters on social media platforms like X and Facebook flooded their feeds with inaccurate information…companies like X and Meta have stepped back from moderating the content on their platforms, users have been turning to AI chatbots for answers—which in many cases have been completely inaccurate.”

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Governing AI

New York passes a bill to prevent AI-fueled disasters

Maxwell Zeff on June 13, 2025 in TechCrunch

“New York state lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that aims to prevent frontier AI models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic from contributing to disaster scenarios, including the death or injury of more than 100 people, or more than $1 billion in damages. If signed into law, New York’s AI safety bill would require the world’s largest AI labs to publish thorough safety and security reports on their frontier AI models. The bill also requires AI labs to report safety incidents, such as concerning AI model behavior or bad actors stealing an AI model, should they happen.”

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Governing AI

WATCH: Governor Murphy Moderates Panel Discussion with AI Experts During AI State Leaders Conference

New Jersey Office of the Governor on June 16, 2025 in New Jersey Office of the Governor

During this week’s AI State Leaders Conference in Princeton, a panel involving 15 AI officers, policy leaders, technologists, and researchers discussed practical frameworks for expanding, building, strengthening AI, and more. The panel was moderated by New Jersey Governor Murphy.

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AI for Governance

Inside Amsterdam’s high-stake experiment to create fair welfare AI

Eileen Guo, Gabriel Geiger, and Justin Casimir-Braun on June 11, 2025 in MIT Technology Review

Opposing viewpoints about Amsterdam’s AI-powered “Smart Check” system “epitomize a global debate about whether algorithms can ever be fair when tasked with making decisions that shape people’s lives….Proponents of these assessment systems argue that they can create more efficient public services by doing more with less and, in the case of welfare systems specifically, reclaim money that is allegedly being lost from the public purse. In practice, many were poorly designed from the start. They sometimes factor in personal characteristics in a way that leads to discrimination, and sometimes they have been deployed without testing for bias or effectiveness.”

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AI for Governance

OpenAI awarded $200 million US defense contract for the use of its AI models

Steve Dent on June 17, 2025 in Engadget

“OpenAI has just launched an initiative called OpenAI For Government starting with a modest new contract. The company was awarded $200 million by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to develop ‘prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,’ according to the DoD's website. The company said its new program will provide federal, state and local governments access to its latest models through ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Gov, along with custom models for national security on a limited basis.”

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AI for Governance

The Army’s Newest Recruits: Tech Execs From Meta, OpenAI and More

Heather Somerville on June 13, 2025 in Wall Street Journal

“The chief technology officers from Palantir and Meta Platforms—Shyam Sankar and Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, respectively—will join Kevin Weil and Bob McGrew of OpenAI pedigree to make up the inaugural cohort of a new Army innovation corps. Their mission: swap C-suites for bases and bring some badly needed tech upgrades to the Army. They are expected to be waged, in part, with ground robots and drones, and rely on networks of sensors and artificial intelligence to coordinate it all. Also, the executives will advise the service on acquiring more commercial technology."

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AI and Labor

AI Use at Work Has Nearly Doubled in Two Years

Ryan Pendell on June 16, 2025 in Gallup

“The use of AI at work is accelerating. In the past two years, the percentage of U.S. employees who say they have used AI in their role a few times a year or more has nearly doubled, from 21% to 40%. AI adoption has increased primarily for white-collar roles. In comparison, reported frequent AI use by production and front-line workers has remained essentially flat for the past two years, shifting from 11% in 2023 to 9% in 2025. Although workplace AI use is increasing, employees are no more likely than they were two years ago to see themselves being replaced soon. Many employees are using AI at work without guardrails or guidance.”

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AI and Labor

Video game performers on strike for almost a year over AI issues reach a tentative deal

Michelle Chapman on June 10, 2025 in The Independent

“The union for Hollywood’s video game performers has reached a tentative contract with several video game companies that may bring an end to an almost year-long strike tied to the use of artificial intelligence…The performers were worried that unchecked use of AI could provide game makers with a means to displace them — by training an AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or to create a digital replica of their likeness without consent…”

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AI and Public Engagement

Five dimensions of scaling democratic deliberation: With and beyond AI

Sammy McKinney and Claudia Chwalisz on June 17, 2025 in DemocracyNext

“What does scaling democratic deliberation mean, why is it valuable, and what is the role of AI in enabling it?...We offer an expanded definition of scale by breaking down the concept across five dimensions: scaling out (increasing deliberator numbers), scaling up (higher governance levels), scaling across (increasing number of processes), scaling deep (increasing impact), and scaling in (improving deliberative quality)…We propose that scaling democratic deliberation is not a technological challenge alone, but one that requires a diverse repertoire of technological applications to be developed and fruitfully combined with strengthened civic infrastructure.”

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AI and Public Engagement

5 Ways AI is Boosting Citizen Engagement in Africa’s Democracies

Peter Agbesi Adivor on June 11, 2025 in African Elections Project

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly influencing democratic participation across Africa. From campaigning to voter education, AI is transforming electoral processes across the continent. While concerns about misinformation and government overreach persist, AI also offers promising avenues to enhance citizen engagement. This article explores five key ways AI is fostering more inclusive and participatory democracies in Africa.”

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AI and Public Engagement

Research Radar: AI Speeds Up Government Consultation Analysis Without Sacrificing Quality

Beth Simone Noveck on June 17, 2025 in Reboot Democracy

“New research from the UK Gov shows how AI could make it easier for institutions to do public engagement. A new process called ‘Consult’ combined AI with human oversight to analyze public consultation responses with 76% accuracy in seconds…This research demonstrates AI's potential to dramatically accelerate democratic responsiveness while maintaining analytical quality. By reducing consultation analysis time from months to weeks, Consult and processes like it could enable more frequent and comprehensive public engagement without overwhelming government resources.”

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AI and Problem Solving

5 Ways AI Supports City Adaptation to Extreme Heat

Hubert Beroche and Flaminia Borelli on June 11, 2025 in Medium

“Cities stand at the frontline of climate change, confronting some of its most immediate and intense consequences. Among these, extreme heat has emerged as one of the most pressing and rapidly escalating threats….In this context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a vital tool in the urban climate adaptation toolbox. Urban AI — defined as the application of AI technologies to urban systems and decision-making — can help cities anticipate, manage, and mitigate the effects of extreme heat in more targeted and effective ways.”

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AI and Problem Solving

New apps help immigrants navigate Trump’s deportation crackdown

Gabriela Martinez Cordova and Alicia Fabregas on June 6, 2025 in Rest of World

“Hack Latino is an artificial intelligence-powered app for Latinos in the U.S., made…with a key feature to keep them safe: a map of ICE sightings… The digital tools provide services such as ‘Know Your Rights’ guides, legal information, and emergency resources to help the community prepare for potential encounters with immigration authorities. Apps such as Hack Latino or digital tools like Stop ICE Alerts function much like the community patrols of the 1990s… — except these apps have the added benefit of real-time technology…”

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