Massachusetts will be the first state to utilize artificial intelligence tools across its executive branch, Gov. Maura Healey announced Feb. 13.
The roll out will occur in stages across the executive branch, eventually reaching over 40,000 state employees. In a Feb. 13 Instagram post, the governor’s office said the implementation of artificial intelligence will reduce wait times, simplify documents and communication, and handle routine tasks; it will not replace human interaction or jobs.
“This is about making government faster, more efficient, and more effective for the people we serve,” Healey said in a Feb. 13 press release. “AI has the potential to transform how government works, which is why we’re excited to partner with OpenAI on this AI Assistant, which will ensure a safe and secure environment for employees and improve their ability to deliver better service to the people of Massachusetts.”
According to a state webpage, the models being used for this initiative are different from the models that are currently accessible to the general public. Currently, employees are forbidden from using public AI models on state-issued devices or sharing private Commonwealth information to such models. This private model will only be available for those in the executive office, and personal information about employees or residents will not be used to train public AI.
“The deployment and associated work with AI in state government will occur within a walled-off, isolated environment that ensures no state data will ever be used to train the public versions of any large language models,” Christopher Smith, the director of legislative and external affairs for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, wrote in a statement to The Mass Media. “This security-forward approach was central to how we considered procurement.”
Healey has taken steps in the past to implement AI in the state government. In February 2024, she created the AI Strategic Task Force to monitor the development of AI and its potential effects on the state as a whole. That December, she established the Massachusetts AI Hub to further fund AI research and drive the state toward becoming a leader in AI. Two weeks after the announcement of the new AI tool in the executive branch, Healey announced that a free AI training through Google would become available to Massachusetts residents.
This newest partnership with OpenAI, the company behind language models like ChatGPT, has drawn scrutiny from residents. Activist group Progressive Mass created a letter campaign demanding the contract with OpenAI be made public, writing, “Workers, civil rights advocates, and consumer advocates need to be at the table to decide how new technologies will be embraced, not just those who will profit from them.”
Another concern is water and energy usage, especially as parts of Massachusetts have been experiencing “significant drought,” according to state data. Smith wrote that the state would continue to reduce emissions and the AI usage would not negatively impact these goals.
Healey’s choice of OpenAI as a company has also garnered controversy. State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven wrote a Substack post Feb. 17, criticizing the decision amid OpenAI’s connections to the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We have not seen the data processing agreement, because Governor Healey’s administration won’t release the contract,” she wrote. “We don’t know what protections actually exist for your health information, your address, your family’s data. And the company we’re asked to trust is the same company embedded in a federal enforcement infrastructure that is using health benefits data to target immigrant communities for deportation.”
Smith wrote that the contract was not related to ICE and that no data would be released to ICE.
“If concerns arise, we have the ability to reassess or adjust accordingly,” he wrote. “Responsible implementation is central to how we approach any new technology.”
