The government’s solution to benefits service issues? Artificial intelligence
OTTAWA — Federal officials overseeing billions in benefit payments to millions of Canadians are hoping artificial intelligence can resolve ongoing snags in the system.
The government is looking to “push the boundaries” of what artificial intelligence can do to improve a variety of services, including the pace of benefit decisions to Canadians applying for disability pensions, say documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the access to information law.
Employment and Social Development Canada is currently facing processes that are “slow, inefficient, inconsistent, and prone to error,” reads a presentation about the AI efforts.
Instead of being able to proactively change the way federal services are delivered to Canadians, the documents say, officials are bogged down with millions of “low value” issues that need to be taken care of, crowding out more critical work.