How might government agencies or the public sector use Amazon Bedrock (for example, to build informational chatbots that answer public queries or assist in paperwork)?

Government agencies and the public sector can use Amazon Bedrock to build AI-powered tools that streamline public services, improve accessibility, and reduce administrative workloads. For example, agencies could deploy chatbots to answer common citizen queries or automate form processing to simplify applications for benefits, permits, or licenses. Bedrock’s managed foundation models (FMs) enable developers to create these solutions without managing underlying infrastructure, while built-in security and compliance features align with public-sector requirements.

One practical use case is building informational chatbots for public inquiries. Agencies often handle repetitive questions about services like tax filing, healthcare enrollment, or permit applications. Using Bedrock, developers can fine-tune a large language model (LLM) like Anthropic’s Claude or Amazon Titan with agency-specific data—such as policy documents or FAQs—to create a chatbot that provides accurate, context-aware responses. For instance, a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) could deploy a chatbot that explains license renewal steps, checks required documents, and links to online forms. The system could integrate with backend databases via APIs to fetch real-time information (e.g., wait times at local offices) and handle multilingual requests, improving accessibility for non-English speakers. Bedrock’s guardrails feature ensures responses stay on-topic and avoid harmful outputs, which is critical for maintaining public trust.

Another application is automating paperwork assistance. Public sector employees often spend significant time processing forms like visa applications, grant requests, or housing assistance paperwork. Developers could use Bedrock’s vision models to extract data from scanned documents (e.g., IDs, income statements) and combine this with an LLM to validate entries, flag errors, or guide users through complex forms. For example, a social services agency might build a tool that asks citizens plain-language questions (e.g., “What’s your monthly income?”), translates their answers into structured form fields, and highlights missing information. The model could also generate summaries for caseworkers, reducing manual review time. By deploying these tools through a secure web portal with AWS Lambda and Amazon API Gateway, agencies ensure scalability during peak periods like tax season while maintaining compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.

Finally, Bedrock can enhance internal workflows. Agencies could use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to create knowledge bases that help staff quickly find information across policy manuals, legal texts, or historical records. For example, a city planning department might build a tool that cross-references zoning laws, permit history, and environmental regulations to answer complex permitting questions. Developers can implement this by connecting Bedrock’s models to vector databases (e.g., Amazon OpenSearch) containing agency documents. Additionally, Bedrock’s model evaluation tools let teams test performance against accuracy or bias metrics before deployment. While these solutions require careful testing and human oversight, they demonstrate how agencies can use Bedrock to improve service delivery without extensive AI expertise.