Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders forms Arkansas AI working group targeting safety, efficiency

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The growing use and potential impact of artificial intelligence has led Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to form a working group to study its potential impact on the Natural State.

Sanders announced Wednesday the AI working group will offer recommendations to her office for the safe use of the technology within state government.

Called the AI & Analytics Center of Excellence, it will be a subcommittee of the Data and Transparency Panel. The state’s chief data officer, Robert McGough, will chair the group.

Officials said the group would study and assess AI and review pilot projects to encourage further insight into it, including its potential risks, and develop best practices for safe implementation. Unemployment insurance fraud and recidivism reduction are two cases identified by officials as initial AI use cases.

The governor said the group is being formed to meet a new technology head-on.

“AI is already transforming the face of business in America, and Arkansas’ state government can’t get caught flat-footed,” Sanders explained. “As we work to find efficiencies within state government, AI can play a role, with appropriate guardrails, in improving our level of service to Arkansans while keeping costs low.”

The governor added that AI misuse must be prevented, and the working group would build a knowledge base on safe use to avoid such problems.

The group is scheduled to exist for one year, and an initial report covering pilot and proof-of-concept projects, efficiencies, cost savings, safety and economic development is due to the governor by Dec. 15.