Rational Bureaucracy 2.0: Public Administration in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

The article reflects research on the dynamics of the process of integrating digital and artificial intelligence technologies in public administration. The authors compared the evolutionary stages of analytical methods and technologies used in corporate sector management systems and in public administration. The analysis revealed similarities that are determined by the key characteristics of modern social processes, which led to the conclusion that the integration of artificial intelligence technologies in public administration is a key condition for increasing the efficiency and ensuring the sustainability of government systems and also the development trend of the public sector in the coming years. An important result of the work is the conclusion that the specifics of public administration, its basic differences from governance in the private sector, lead to deviations from the path of digital evolution that is observed in the private sector. These deviations are objective and they can’t be interpreted solely as lag. Public administration as a process of exercising power is based on certain principles, unique resources and proceeds from specific goals. The development of digital technologies, each new generation of which makes the world more transparent, violates the autonomy of the state administration in relation to society, and exacerbates this opposition. The specific data operated by government agencies can’t enter the data economy, at least at the present stage: the protection of personal data, tax secrets and other information collected by the state for the implementation of its functions remains the agreed interest of society and the state. The authors propose a model that allows you to get all the benefits from the introduction of digital technologies in public administration, but at the same time maintain state-administrative autonomy. The article presents the key principles for constructing such an adaptive model of «rational bureaucracy 2.0» , which integrates digital and artificial intelligence technologies into the public administration system while maintaining the immanent autonomy of the public administration system. As the main parameters for developing a strategy for transition and adaptation of the public administration system, the authors justify the classification of functions and tasks for their potential automation based on the principles of rational Weber bureaucracy, which are proposed to be forwarded to artificial intelligence systems, and the staff of government structures will focus on solving complex problems on the principles of network organization, cooperation and proactivity.