Agentic AI in government just hit the hard part: deciding what a machine may decide

The United Arab Emirates has launched a government AI initiative aimed at converting half of its federal operations to AI models within two years. A workshop attended by over 100 federal officials set implementation priorities and frameworks for the project. The initiative encompasses seven pillars, including strategy, government performance, and innovation, relying on an AI-powered performance system that tracks over 150 million data points monthly. However, no government has yet established a defensible method for distinguishing between tasks suitable for autonomous systems and those that require human intervention.