Rhode Island is planning a mass acceleration of its artificial intelligence (AI) implementation measures after unveiling a roadmap of the state’s efforts to capitalize on technological innovation and integration. After the rapid rise of AI solutions impacting virtually every sector, the state has a unique opportunity to lead nationally inclusive, comprehensive AI adoption through coordinated action and strategy.
The plan was informed by the Rhode Island AI Task Force, which was formed in February 2024 by executive order and mandating the development of an action plan to derive the best possible benefit from emerging AI technologies.
Notably, while developing AI technologies and deploying them as needed to optimize productivity is important, the report stated that the state will only achieve the full benefits of unlocking AI by investing in people. Workforce development will be essential for building and sustaining a functional AI system, leveraging educational institutions to bridge the skills gap and meet modern needs.
The report distilled four core themes that will guide the state’s AI journey, translating experimental solutions into focused action. These themes include:
- Education and Upskilling Workforce
- Government Leadership.
- Framework Development.
- Collaboration and Scale.
As part of the state’s efforts to prepare its workforce for impending AI advancement, plans include prioritizing education to drive workforce training for AI accreditation, micro-credentialing programs and certification of registered apprenticeships in AI. Additional steps will include facilitating mentorship and partnership programs, creating AI training incentives and support and promoting AI awareness and opportunities.
Most states have already broken ground on integrating AI into government operations. Rhode Island will lead this trend by piloting AI in key government functions and pioneering an AI-driven policy management system. These efforts will be further supported by security investments and efforts to align regulations with other jurisdictions.
The state will prioritize developing frameworks for use, including establishing a centralized AI guidance body. To facilitate these plans, the Task Force proposed the creation of secure and stable technology stacks for stakeholders in AI operations. Streamlining and facilitating data sharing capabilities will also play an essential role in AI dominance and prevalence.
Finally, the state must pursue cross-industry and cross-region partnerships throughout New England, funding AI innovation grants to accelerate research and adoption. Rhode Island will establish a physical and online innovation hub – AI for Rhode Island (AI-RI) – as a statewide resource. These steps will help ensure the state can expand AI integration across more sectors, including life sciences, biotech and ocean technology.
The Task Force broke into six fact-finding teams in December 2024 to cover more ground and inform the finalized plan, targeting priority sectors for AI implementation including education, defense and manufacturing, finance, health care, government and small businesses. The teams analyzed how AI is being applied across these industries and used those observations to guide future innovation. The report features actionable steps needed to advance and achieve full AI value in these areas.
In education, the state must incentivize the implementation of AI-integrated education tools, develop a content governance framework for a public education standard and deploy predictive analytics platforms for forecasting educational needs. The state must also develop an AI-powered portal to match researchers with funding opportunities.
Advancement within the defense industries and maritime technologies sector starts with the expansion of programs including and similar to the Rhode Island Innovation Hub. The state should also leverage defense contracting opportunities and Federal Funded Research and Development Centers. Finally, securing an AI-driven future depends on launching demonstration projects, identifying or establishing an AI equipment grant program and investing in workforce upskilling and infrastructure.
The finance sector would benefit from efforts to lead AI governance development, foster industry-academia collaboration for FinTech development and support joint research and internships to funnel resources into FinTech. Additional plans include:
- Developing AI compliance toolkits for financial institutions.
- Creating a model validation and bias testing lab.
- Requiring use of explainable AI in customer-facing applications.
- Integrating AI-based cyber and fraud detection.
Launching AI-powered health initiatives and creating coalitions and programs to accelerate those initiatives are cornerstones of an increased focus on Rhode Island health care. In addition to encouraging AI-driven biotech, the state must embed AI and ethics in medical education, develop AI-assisted rural and underserved healthcare programs and deploy a statewide AI and health data sharing network.
Critical steps for achieving functional, responsible AI deployment withing government operations include:
- Develop local data infrastructure and a governance framework.
- Create a data analytics center.
- Launch a statewide AI-Cyber response initiative.
- Modernize data systems using AI.
- Pilot and scale AI automation use cases.
- Require AI decision monitoring for bias and disparities.
- Launch initiatives to improve citizen experiences with government services.
The states focus on small businesses should start with the creation of an AI adoption sandbox alongside an online and physical resource hub to provide technical assistance. To further support these businesses, Rhode Island must deploy an open AI resource library, launch business-specific chatbots and provide grant programs and incentives to help businesses adopt AI. Finally, Rhode Island should drive ocean technologies and climate research AI innovation and partner with cloud providers universities to offer subsidized AI tools.
Photo by Aashish Rai from Pexels
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