VN N# # PRACTICE
BUILDING CAPACITY
Building Capacity With the Pragmatic Adoption of Artificial Intelligence
Darryl Booth, MBA
What Is Exciting Now? We have the opportunity now to be learn- ers—to explore and build up personal and professional experiences. We have the oppor- tunity today to guide and counsel those peo- ple who would integrate the technologies. These opportunities can play out by encouraging an IT or departmental policy that welcomes exploration within guidelines intended to protect organizational standards such as respecting privacy, promoting equity, and supporting colleagues. Check out the Building Capacity column in the Septem- ber 2023 Journal of Environmental Health (www.neha.org/Images/resources/JEH9.23- Column-Building-Capacity.pdf) for a sample policy for environmental health departments on the use of generative AI. Many organizations are also forming AI adoption committees that are charged with allocating modest budgets, arranging train- ing, and celebrating small wins. These com- mittees can further signal to vendors what is expected in future software versions. This degree of opportunity can be incre- mentally advanced through thoughtful and responsible training and exploration. What Will Soon Be Exciting? Most health departments are looking to their existing software vendors to integrate AI into the existing software. Expect Microsoft 365 Copilot soon, which will integrate gen- erative AI into Word, Excel, Outlook, Pow- erPoint, and other Microsoft apps. Based on early access, we anticipate new capabilities that are expected to be oered as a fee-based add-on. For many health departments, this software tool (or its equivalent) will raise
Editor’s Note: A need exists within environmental health agencies to increase their capacity to perform in an environment of diminishing resources. With limited resources and increasing demands, we need to seek new approaches to the practice of environmental health. Acutely aware of these challenges, the Journal publishes the Building Capacity column to educate, reinforce, and build on successes within the profession using technology to improve eciency and extend the impact of environmental health agencies. This column is authored by technical advisors of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Data and Technology Section, as well as guest authors. The conclusions of this column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of NEHA. Darryl Booth has been monitoring regulatory and data tracking needs of environmental and public health agencies across the U.S. for over 20 years. He is the general manager of environmental health at Accela.
S ome argue that generative artificial in- telligence (AI), the technology be- hind popular tools like ChatGPT, is not ready for prime time. They point to rapidly emerging standards and capabilities. They point to behaviors like hallucinations and jailbreaking. Hallucinations refer to pa- tently incorrect responses (i.e., fibbing) in ways that appear otherwise completely le- gitimate. Jailbreaking refers to the practice of tricking AI into responding in ways con- trary to its training. Others would point out that the govern- ment is not expected to chase down emerg- ing technologies. Consistent and predictable are watchwords for most regulators, as well as attributes appreciated by their customers.
The Prompt Index, an AI newsletter, released a simple decision chart to determine if it is safe to use ChatGPT (Figure 1). In seven simple workflow shapes, the diagram shows what few people want to hear—Just cool your jets for a few minutes. Turning the Corner It was tremendously dicult for me to write the preceding paragraphs. With new technol- ogy, I am not a “cool your jets” kind of per- son. So, I keep probing, pushing, and asking leaders to not bury their heads in the sand. I urge them to be in tune and capture oppor- tunity as it presents itself. Some opportunity exists now. Even more opportunities will come along soon enough.
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Volume 86 • Number 4
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