Russian Officials Will Learn Prompt Engineering to Use AI in Governance

Regional governments in Russia are starting to train officials in artificial intelligence, introducing them to prompt engineering and legal frameworks for AI use.

The administration of Oryol Region, a small territory south of Moscow, has announced a professional development course for its civil servants on how to work with neural networks. The government procurement notice, published on Russia’s official tender platform, details the new program titled Artificial Intelligence: Capabilities and Limitations in Professional Activity.

Over 36 academic hours, officials will learn how to generate text and images with AI tools. The training will also cover one of the most sensitive aspects of the technology — its legal regulation. That includes existing restrictions on AI use in public service. Crucially, participants will get a crash course in prompt engineering, the skill of formulating queries that make AI systems respond in clear and precise ways.

The move is part of a broader trend across Russian regions to integrate AI into public administration. For instance, Lipetsk Region is already using an intelligent management system in its social services sector. The system has reduced the time needed to approve financial aid from 20 days to just 5. Officials there also report that an AI assistant has automated large parts of bureaucratic paperwork.