10% productivity boost: AI pilot program saves time at NC treasurer's office – WRAL.com
A first-of-its-kind project launched by the North Carolina treasurer’s office, in partnership with artificial intelligence company OpenAI and North Carolina Central University, found increased efficiency and streamlined workflow patterns.
The tryout period found that applying AI technology, namely OpenAI’s ChatGPT product, to certain tasks and objectives was significantly beneficial for day-to-day operations.
State treasurer Brad Briner said his office was able to speed up analyzing financial statements and improve accuracy during the trial. The program’s findings show that the modifications could be applied throughout state government, a new report on the program says.
“What we’ve learned first and perhaps unsurprisingly, is that this technology saves a material amount of time,” Briner said Friday at a news conference explaining the findings of the project. The treasurer’s office estimated that employees in the divisions that participated in the program improved productivity by about 10%.
The treasurer’s office and OpenAI spent about 12 weeks examining ways to use the company’s ChatGPT product to analyze publicly available data to increase operational efficiency and enhance public services. The partnership used AI to discover process improvements in the treasurer’s department, such as looking for ways to identify businesses with unclaimed property and to analyze local government public financial data.
Briner said his office looked for improvements in three specific areas.
“This partnership represents what’s possible when innovative public service meets thoughtful technology adoption,” said Siobahn Day Grady, founding director of NC Central University’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Research, which conducted the evaluation.
The 48-page report lays out examples of how OpenAI’s popular artificial assistant product, ChatGPT, improved efficiency in day-to-day tasks. In some instances, the report said, functions that required 20 minutes were done in 20 seconds. A 90-minute audit request review was reduced to a third of the time. Overall, time savings averaged up to an hour per day for many employees, the report said.
“It’s better for our employees, it’s better for our taxpayers and underpins all the changes we’re trying to make in this department,” Briner said.
