New York State names chief AI officer – StateScoop

New York State’s technology bureau on Thursday announced it’s hired Shreya Amin, who most recently worked as an AI scientist for the health tech firm Wellist, as the state’s new chief artificial intelligence officer.

Amin, who leads an AI consulting practice and also briefly held a data role in Jersey City, New Jersey, government, is tasked in New York with refining the Information Technology Services’ guidance on AI and updating the state’s technology offerings with the latest technologies. According to a press release, her job will also include optimizing “benefits of AI while minimizing risk,” ensuring “strong” human oversight of AI systems and improving the efficiency how the state provides services.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to shape our future through responsible AI,” Amin said in the release. “I’m committed to leveraging AI to enhance services, facilitate operations, and drive data-informed decisions, ensuring ethical guardrails, equity, and transparency. Collaborating across agencies and with our communities, we will create meaningful improvements in the lives of our residents while positioning New York as a leader in government AI.”

Amin joins a state government that has in recent months advanced several AI initiatives, including Empire AI, a supercomputing consortium intended to support university research projects across a wide range of disciplines, aimed at using “AI for good.” Gov. Kathy Hochul in last month announced Empire AI had received $165 million in additional funding, on top of $400 million already contributed last year by the state government and its philanthropic and research partners.

The chief AI officer has become more common in state and local governments in recent years, following the popularity of large language models. AI officers, like those in Georgia and Vermont, are playing larger roles in how their technology divisions plan for and provision IT across their state governments.