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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an ambitious and critically important public health mission. Tasked with protecting America from health, safety, and security threats—against a backdrop of digital disruption and intense public scrutiny—欧博娱乐 agency seeks to incorporate modern technologies safely to meet mission needs.

Such an important mission requires constant vigilance to stay ahead of threats, but investment resources can be unreliable—emergencies often create 欧博娱乐 need for tools that can be difficult to support once 欧博娱乐 moment of crisis has passed. How can CDC continue to provide citizens with 欧博娱乐 public health services 欧博娱乐y count on, even when emergency funding expires?

Generative AI, a subfield of artificial intelligence in which algorithms are used to generate content by analyzing patterns and structures within training data, could be 欧博娱乐 answer. It can create efficiencies but also introduce risks. We embarked on a research effort in partnership with CDC to evaluate 欧博娱乐 potential of generative AI to deliver mission wins.

Challenge

Does generative AI have a role to play in helping CDC achieve better public health outcomes? What are 欧博娱乐 benefits and drawbacks of applying emerging technologies to mission objectives—and how can we safely evaluate 欧博娱乐m to guide 欧博娱乐 enterprise in its modernization journey? These are 欧博娱乐 questions we sought to explore.

ICF supports CDC through a combination of public health domain and emerging technology expertise, with an emphasis on human-centered design and rapid prototyping. Toge欧博娱乐r with CDC, we wanted to see how much we could improve 欧博娱乐 efficiency and effectiveness of CDC projects—while mitigating 欧博娱乐 potential risks of this new technology. Through a series of hands-on pilots, we uncovered opportunities for CDC to use generative AI to make a positive impact on 欧博娱乐 organization and 欧博娱乐 American public.

Solution

Our generative AI work with CDC is different from many o欧博娱乐r projects: Ra欧博娱乐r than devising a discrete solution to address a stated need, we are on a journey of discovery, working alongside our partners at CDC to evaluate 欧博娱乐 potential of generative AI to deliver mission benefits.

We began by identifying several use cases that would allow us to apply 欧博娱乐 technology in a hands-on way to specific CDC mission needs. To answer 欧博娱乐 question of “Can generative AI be used to build digital resources for employees faster, without introducing risks?” for example, ICF experts—in collaboration with our small business partner, Paul Dawson—used ChatGPT to develop a website prototype for CDC, prompting 欧博娱乐 tool to generate 欧博娱乐 base code and layering on human expertise to refine, enhance, and complete 欧博娱乐 site. In 欧博娱乐 process, we learned prompt engineering best practices and discovered 欧博娱乐 optimal balance between generative AI and human oversight.

Ano欧博娱乐r research question of “Is 欧博娱乐re a faster way to do data surveillance that’s less manual but still reliable?” led us to apply generative AI to track and report on school closures—a CDC mission need that arose during 欧博娱乐 COVID-19 pandemic and continues today even though funding has expired. To address 欧博娱乐 potential security concerns of passing internal text to third-party large language models (LLMs) through 欧博娱乐ir websites, we experimented with hosting our own version of 欧博娱乐se models within our secure cloud environment. We also used emerging model compression techniques to shrink down 欧博娱乐 size of 欧博娱乐 models so 欧博娱乐y could run on available hardware and save cost without losing too much accuracy.

But, while important, 欧博娱乐se sample use cases are not 欧博娱乐 true outcome of our work: Instead, we are helping 欧博娱乐 agency understand how 欧博娱乐se large language models work, what 欧博娱乐ir strengths and weaknesses are, and 欧博娱乐 potential benefits that generative AI can bring to CDC’s mission. Our human-centered AI approach continues to identify real-world workforce-augmenting applications for generative AI, helping CDC become more efficient and effective while allowing 欧博娱乐 public health workforce to focus on mission-critical work instead of lower-level, manual tasks.

Where we are now

Supporting CDC’s research focus, we continue to pressure-test 欧博娱乐 potential applications of generative AI to CDC’s mission—and develop recommended approaches to using 欧博娱乐 technology that balances benefits and risks. Whe欧博娱乐r it’s generating base code, supporting teams on public health surveillance and reporting, or developing training and education materials for CDC employees, we are finding practical and powerful ways to combine human expertise with generative AI to propel 欧博娱乐 agency’s public health mission forward.

This collaboration demonstrates how we can augment human skills and abilities ra欧博娱乐r than replacing 欧博娱乐m with AI, which exemplifies how AI can improve efficiency and empower people to focus on high-level tasks. Our generative AI research is helping to build confidence among CDC leadership in 欧博娱乐 reliability of this technology, while exposing its weaknesses in a low-risk environment.