Many routine tasks in administration can be simplified by websites, FAQs or intelligent assistants for citizens and businesses. For this, no new algorithms are needed. Rather, it would have been possible for many years now. Why a visit to the authorities is better than being replaced with AI is explained here.
Introduction
The motivation for this post what an article in F.A.Z. titled "The chatbot should replace the office visit". In it, digital politician Ronja Kemmer, who leads the Commission on Human Digitalization, explains how administrative processes are to be simplified by AI.
As application cases for AI are mentioned in the FAZ:
- Orientation "for simple questions
- Informationsangebote,
- Application submission and processing
- Appeal procedure
- Work steps" take over in "standardized complaints" such as flight delays.
That sounds in many parts directly as if it had been possible since twenty years already. After all, a human should make the final decision on "elementary questions".
General statements are of little help when it comes down to specifics and must be done. Too often general wishes or announcements have led to the mistaken assumption that some expert will already know what and how something can be realized in which way. It is overlooked that many wishes cannot be implemented because Aladdin's magic lamp is currently borrowed by someone else. Sometimes even Aladdin knows that his magic lamp is not suitable for certain wishes. For example, if someone wants a bag of potatoes, Aladdin sends this person to the vegetable vendor around the corner.
Obviously it is not widespread that an artificial intelligence is not there to provide exact answers to questions from citizens. It works even less for legal issues, because opinions rather than facts prevail there.
You can ask Albert Einstein how a house foundation with a defective joint is renovated, or you can ask your colleague who is a tile layer sitting next door in his office.
A moderate analogy to "Ask a generally educated but otherwise dumb AI (and cobble together the wrong answer that must be corrected afterwards) or ask a competent specialist who answers correctly right away and can also mention current working methods
In addition to the points mentioned above, it will be noted below in detail why this has been possible for many years now. Rather than just sleeping through the megatrend called "Internet" ("new territory"), politics is now trying to jump on the next train because many uninformed people consider AI to be the universal savior.
Solutions without AI
The tasks mentioned above in administration, which are best accomplished with artificial intelligence according to the expert commission for humane digitalization, will be examined more closely individually.
Orientation with simple questions
Simple questions can often be answered simply. Regardless, there are not infinitely many simple questions, but only a countably finite number of them. How about a question-and-answer catalog? To do this, at least one person would have to take the trouble to write down frequently asked questions from citizens (or companies) to the administration over two days. The answers to these questions can be given by competent colleagues in the administration better than any AI and written down once.
Thinking about standard processes leads primarily when experienced employees are forced to achieve faster and higher quality results than when a general intelligence (AI) is used for this purpose.
Please prove me the opposite.
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My name is Klaus Meffert. I have a doctorate in computer science and have been working professionally and practically with information technology for over 30 years. I also work as an expert in IT & data protection. I achieve my results by looking at technology and law. This seems absolutely essential to me when it comes to digital data protection. My company, IT Logic GmbH, also offers consulting and development of optimized and secure AI solutions.
