New York's State University system lacks a consistent framework for overseeing artificial intelligence used on its campuses, according to an audit released by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Auditors found no standard SUNY definition of AI or documented systemwide policies and procedures for developing and using the technology.
The SUNY review was one of five state accountability audits released Monday. The other reports examined weather preparation at New York City Transit, the city's AI oversight, preschool education reimbursements and the security of systems used by a state horse-breeding fund.
Campus uses vary, but oversight is uneven
SUNY campuses have already put AI to work in a range of settings, the audit summary said. Examples include transcribing clinical notes during patient visits, reading license plates to identify parking violations, flagging students at risk of dropping out and masking personal information in video evidence.
Auditors reviewed a sample of four campuses using AI and found widely different approaches to governing it. Some had identified important risks and taken steps to address them, while others had not created or updated policies or otherwise moved toward effective oversight. The finding concerns SUNY System Administration's role in setting a common framework; the summary does not say every campus had the same deficiencies.
The audit is identified as 2024-S-33. The release did not specify in its summary what corrective schedule SUNY had agreed to, if any.
Other audits cover transit, costs and security
A follow-up on New York City Transit's extreme-weather planning found progress but unfinished work. Of nine recommendations from a 2023 audit, five had been implemented, two were partly implemented and two remained unimplemented. The earlier review said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had not developed a climate-change adaptation master plan and found shortcomings in the scope, timing, cost or documentation of sampled capital projects.
A separate follow-up on the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation found all three recommendations from a 2023 AI-governance audit were only partly implemented. The original review examined oversight and risk assessments at four city agencies, including education, police, buildings and children's services.
In a State Education Department preschool audit, examiners questioned $1,337,765 in reported costs from Helen Keller Services for the Blind because they did not comply with reimbursement rules. The New York City-based provider had reported about $10 million in reimbursable costs for special-class instruction for children ages 3 to 5 during the audit's scope. The finding identifies noncompliant reported costs, not a final determination that the full sum must be repaid.
Auditors also identified security-control improvements for the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund, a public benefit corporation that promotes Standardbred breeding and equine research. The fund administers three racing programs and supports the statewide 4-H program and an equine research fund at Cornell. Because the security details were sent to the fund in a confidential report, the public summary does not identify the vulnerabilities.
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