Explaining AI: How Communicators Can Explain What Their Agency Is Doing with AI

Your agency is probably already using AI to process applications, flag fraud, or route services. Most residents don't know. When they find out, they'll have three questions: Who's accountable? Can it be wrong? What happens to my data? The communicators who can answer plainly will build trust. The ones who reach for jargon or evasion will spend years rebuilding it. What does the public actually want to know about government AI, how to explain algorithmic decisions without a computer science degree on either end, and what to say when the system gets it wrong. Because it will, and your answer for that day should already exist.

Participants will leave with:

• A working understanding of how government AI systems operate and where they are most commonly deployed

• Frameworks for explaining algorithmic decision-making to non-technical audiences in plain, credible language

• Strategies for communicating accountability, oversight, and human review in AI-assisted processes

• Practical messaging approaches for common scenarios, including service delivery, benefits, and law enforcement applications