Trust and security are top concerns in the public sector’s use of generative AI, survey says

Public sector organizations overwhelmingly believe it is important for them to adopt generative artificial intelligence technologies but remain concerned about trust in the new capabilities, according to a survey from Amazon Web Services published on Tuesday.

The report — the results of which were shared exclusively with Nextgov/FCW ahead of its publication — found that 89% of participants said it was somewhat or critically important for their institutions to embrace GenAI, even as they also acknowledged limitations with the broader deployment of the tools across their organizations. 

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said it had been difficult for their employers to adopt the capabilities, with only 28% of respondents reporting that GenAI “is already integrated or broadly used across their organization.” 

The survey found that the gap between excitement about adoption of the new capabilities and actual implementation of GenAI was related to concerns around cost, trustworthiness and security of the tools. 

“Agencies need to know that they are investing wisely in systems that address their needs,” the report said, noting that 86% of surveyed public servants said they believed that integrating GenAI with their legacy systems would be costly. 

Survey respondents said, however, that maintaining public confidence in their organizations was their top consideration when it came to GenAI adoption. 

Eighty-three percent of respondents reported that their employers are concerned about public trust in GenAI, while 48% of overall survey participants cited data security and privacy as their top concern. 

“The fact half of the survey respondents are concerned about data security and privacy aligns with what our clients tell us,” AWS Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector Dave Levy said. “Keeping America’s data safe is an immense responsibility, which is why it is crucial to have the highest security standards possible.” 

To mitigate some of the potential roadblocks around adoption of GenAI capabilities, the survey participants said their organizations were looking for outside assistance to guide their implementation of the technologies.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said they were interested in deploying GenAI across their operations but were in need of a partner or vendor to help them maximize its effectiveness. This outside vendor, the report added, would also need to be aligned with the organizations’ unique needs.

“This choice in partner matters,” the survey said. “Seven in ten respondents (68%) agree their organization has requirements that influence their choice of generative AI provider, from compliance to security.”

The online survey — which included 839 respondents from across the federal, education, nonprofit and healthcare sectors​ — ​was conducted by Market Connections, which is a portfolio platform of Nextgov/FCW parent company GovExec.