Idaho preps to roll out artificial intelligence in state government

This article was originally published by Idaho Capital Sun.

Visitors to the Idaho Division of Human Resources’s website can get quick answers from a new chatbot — powered by artificial intelligence, or AI — that combs through state government websites.

So, we asked it: “How many state employees does Idaho have?”

The chatbot’s answer didn’t make sense. The tool falsely claimed nearly a third of Idaho’s over 2 million population works for the state.

“Idaho has approximately 713,015 state employees as indicated by the most recent data available,” the chatbot replied.

The right answer, though, depends on how you ask the question.

When you ask more specifically about how many “active” state employees there are, Idaho HR Administrator Janelle White explained, you can get a better answer.

“Idaho currently has approximately 23,546 active state employees employed across various government agencies,” the chatbot replied, according to a screenshot she shared with the Idaho Capital Sun.

The chatbot is one of the few ways Idaho state government agencies are already using AI. But with high interest — and concern — from state agencies and employees, Idaho’s Office of Information Technology Services is preparing a yearslong plan with guidance on how to responsibly use AI in state government.

“While we’re measuring and mitigating risks, we’re making sure that we’re not getting in the way of it being launched. We want to — we really want to unleash this to the workforce,” Idaho Office of Information Technology Services Administrator Alberto Gonzalez said in an interview. “I’m a huge fan of automation and machine learning already anyways, because it can make government way more effective and more efficient. And I believe that those that are not using automation are doing a disservice to the state.”

By August, Idaho Agencies Could Start Using Tools Like ChatGPT

By August, Gonzalez said Idaho state government agencies can start using publicly available tools like ChatGPT or Gemini in public facing chatbots, which have been largely blocked. 

To him, the use cases for AI in state government are “endless.” The technology can be used for routine tasks, like customer service and data entry, to quicken time-intensive reports, and even to detect fraud, waste and abuse, he said. 

One of the biggest AI concerns for state employees is how widely data can be accessed, or data governance, Gonzalez said. That’s part of what goes into the IT office’s work with state agencies to prepare them to roll out AI tools.

Some national experts also say AI could reduce the workforce. That could be true, Gonzalez acknowledged, but it would take a while.

Using the technology more could mean agencies automate more tasks to free staff time up, he said. “So then you can use that staff to do something — either slow down the growth, so that you don’t have to grow government … or potentially through attrition, you could reduce the workforce by leveraging AI,” Gonzalez said. 

“I know that that’s a more sensitive topic, but I’m talking over years,” he said. 

Last month, the agency announced the guidance to state lawmakers at the Idaho Legislature’s AI Working Group. But the guidance hasn’t been shared with agencies yet while it’s under legal review. The Idaho Capital Sun obtained a copy of the draft guidance through a public records request. 

Idaho Would Carefully Roll Out, Refine AI Tools Over Two Years, Under Draft Plan

The draft AI guidance lays out a four-step plan — over two years — to implement AI in Idaho state government agencies.

First, Idaho would set up a foundation — establishing structures to govern AI use, roles for state agencies and departments, oversight and more. 

Then, Idaho would initially implement AI in pilot runs. Later, Idaho would expand implementation and continue to fine tune AI’s use in state government. 

“Idaho’s tiered guidance model applies rigorous scrutiny to high-risk systems and streamlines review for low-risk applications,” the draft guidance’s introduction reads. “This structure empowers the state to capture immediate value from early implementations and build institutional capacity systematically. Through this balanced approach, Idaho is poised to transform its citizen services, operational workflows, and decision-making culture, anchoring it in data-driven insights and public accountability.”

And building trust is one of the main goals.

“Every AI system will meet clear standards for explainability, auditability, and ethical alignment,” a short summary of the guidance reads. “Transparency isn’t optional, it’s foundational.”

Congress Ditched 10-Year Ban on State AI Regulations. Idaho Has Three AI Laws. 

Initially, Congress’s massive federal spending and tax cut bill that became law last week would’ve blocked states from regulating AI through state laws for 10 years. But the U.S. Senate nearly unanimously removed the moratorium, States Newsroom reported.

In 2024, Idaho passed three laws to regulate AI — targeting explicit and political deep fakes, and AI-generated material that is exploitative of children.

At the Legislature’s AI work group’s meeting last month, the Idaho Office of Information Technology Services shared copies of its draft AI guidance with state lawmakers for review. 

The Idaho HR AI Chatbot Still Can’t Tell You the Number of State Employees

For the rollout of the public HR chatbot, the Idaho Division of Human Resources worked with the Office of Information Technology Services, White told the Sun. 

The Sun sent her a screenshot of the chatbot appearing to wildly overestimate Idaho’s state employee workforce. She, and the Idaho DMV administrator, both suggested they would’ve asked it differently — with more specific details, like asking for the active workforce.

“The information provided by the chatbot will only be as good as the question asked [and the information it has access to],” White said in an email on Monday. “… Part of the learning curve with AI and chatbots, is being really good at asking questions!”

But on Tuesday, when the Sun asked the chatbot the same question White asked, the chatbot couldn’t answer.

“I don’t have the current number of active state employees available,” it said. 

Idaho DMV is Using an AI Chatbot. But Only For Internal Testing Right Now.

The Idaho Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, is also using an AI-powered chatbot as part of a pilot project. But the tool is only available for some DMV employees to use for testing — and is not yet open to the public, officials say.

It won’t go public until it’s refined, Idaho DMV Administrator Lisa McClellan told the Sun in an interview. 

“Until it’s ready for prime time, we won’t even use it internally in our production environment,” she said.

Drawing from internal policy documents, manuals and Idaho state laws, the tool is meant to quicken the process of searching through reams of information, she explained. The tool doesn’t have access to any personally identifiable information, she said. 

Only a handful of ITD employees, who mostly already know the answers to the questions they ask the tool, are using it, McClellan said. Right now, they’re testing how accurate its answers are, and learning how to best ask questions to get correct answers, she said.