Federal AI Use Cases Double In 2024, New Report Shows

The White House released its 2024 consolidated list of federal artificial intelligence (AI) use cases on Wednesday, revealing that federal agencies more than doubled their reported uses compared to last year.

The inventory, published on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) GitHub, documents 1,757 public AI applications across 37 federal agencies, up from 710 in 2023.

According to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council, the top AI categories are mission-enabling (internal agency support), health and medical applications, and government services, such as benefits delivery, as reported by Fedscoop.

The annual inventory process, initiated in 2020, has been refined under the Biden administration to include additional disclosures, particularly regarding rights- and safety-impacting use cases, says Fedscoop.

These cases are subject to stricter risk management practices outlined in OMB memo M-24-10. Agencies unable to meet these standards were required to halt such use cases by December 1.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported the highest number of AI applications with 271, followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as reported by Fedscoop.

Notably, DHS also disclosed a 136% increase in use cases from 2023, including its new internal chatbot, DHSChat.

Of the 1,757 use cases, 227 involve rights and safety implications, with 145 stemming from the VA. For cases requiring more time to comply with OMB’s guidelines, 206 year-long extensions were granted, says Fedscoop.

Extensions were approved based on agencies’ justifications and their efforts to mitigate risks during the compliance period, says Fedscoop. While most use cases are operational, the inventory reflects applications at various stages, from development to retirement.

Certain classified and sensitive applications, including those within the Department of Defense, are not included individually in the public inventory. However, agencies are now required to report aggregate metrics for such use cases, noted Fedscoop.

Several agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation, missed the reporting deadline but indicated that their inventories would be updated by January 2025, as reported by Fedscoop.