Posted on 08/07/2025 12:20:27 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
AI could redefine work in public administration.
Few structures have proven to be as resistant to change as bureaucracy. Built on printed forms, single windows, and linear processes, bureaucracy has long been synonymous with rigidity and inefficiency. But that is beginning to change. Artificial intelligence has emerged as a viable solution to administrative bottlenecks, both in the public and private sectors.
Automating bureaucratic tasks is no longer a futuristic idea; it’s a growing practice. Governments, including Singapore’s, already use AI-powered chatbots to respond to thousands of administrative requests in seconds. In the private sector, companies like Coca-Cola are not only automating contract and invoice processing, but they are also generating brand creative assets using AI—within minutes and at global scale. Employees have been elegantly “reassigned” to higher-value tasks, because as history has shown, human labor doesn’t disappear—it just relocates.
This is neither anecdotal nor temporary. It’s a clear example of the Ricardo Effect at work in the labor market—a concept developed by economist David Ricardo and later expanded by Friedrich Hayek, which explains how rising wages or cheaper capital lead firms to replace labor with machines. As the cost of automating routine tasks drops, firms and institutions substitute low-productivity human labor with capital—in this case, algorithms. This lowers costs, improves quality, and frees up human resources. As people shift toward roles where their marginal productivity is higher—supervision, analysis, and process design, for example—economic output grows. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, this process could boost global GDP by 0.8% to 1.4% annually, provided that displaced workers are efficiently redeployed. Generative AI alone has the potential to add $2.6 to $4.4 trillion per year to the global economy. Combined with other automation technologies, it could contribute up...
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I don’t see the bureaucracy letting AI improve workflow. They’ve always had a vested interest in never completing their tasks. They’re not going to let AI change that.
To me introducing AI would be like interacting with the computer kiosk at McDonalds, which I refuse to use. I see unending futility like being faced with the DOS prompt response of a BASIC computer program.
Part of government is deciding between parties; determining who is telling the truth. For instance, Unemployment Insurance adjusters determine who is at fault for someone becoming unemployed. How would AI determine who is telling the truth. Ask your favorite AI how it determines who is telling the truth. The answer won’t impress you.
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