AI is presenting the APS with a number of dilemmas. Can it handle them? Photo: File.
How will artificial intelligence be regulated in the Australian Public Service? Good question. And it seems lots of people are asking it inside the service and receiving very little back by way of an answer.
AI is here and taking over the world – one departmental pod at a time.
There is a lot of good to embrace with AI. It will make so much about how we all work easier, but there is also a great deal to learn about this brave new world rushing right at us. It is shaping up to be a game changer on the scale of the industrial revolution.
Putting aside that whole other debate about whether it will soon do most people out of a job (not to mention the one about whether it will control humanity one day), there are many other questions longing for answers.
Like, is ChatGPT my new boss?
There is a lot of encouragement in the APS right now to get on board the AI train.
Nothing wrong with that.
Technological advances have traditionally been instrumental to the progress of government work and service delivery.
Anything that can streamline processes and hasten outcomes has to be a good thing, right?
Well, maybe.
With all new technologies come teething problems, hiccups and the potential for disaster.
That’s OK (kind of) if it’s the trial of a new software suite or the upgrading of old systems.
When the genuine aim is to reduce the instance of error during a period of trial-and-error, hopefully, a positive outcome is the end result.
But when the technology is regarded as the absolute truth and left to rule, catastrophes await – hello, Robodebt.
With AI, however, a significant level of control is lost to a bot.
It presents the public service with an ethical dilemma.
How will the embedding of AI affect the development and delivery of policy?
After all, policy decides much of how we live, so it’s important to get it right.
AI can and will conduct research, present scenarios, flag issues and even write whole theses.
That might sound like a perfect day for a policy wonk stuck behind a computer with relentless deadlines crashing in on them, but it’s also the recipe for a perfect storm.
Will the service soon be relying on AI to make decisions?
It’s easy to say “of course not” but … once again … Robodebt – a perfect example of how easy it can be to let technology make decisions, take out the human element and insist everyone live by those decisions.
Is the APS even able to advise the government about AI?
Can it procure consultants to do that? Will the government allow the APS to procure consultants? Do they even exist?
Will the onset of the age of AI be much like the digital age, where it left so many behind the eight ball for so long?
It’s a bit of a cliche to suggest AI could be used for good or evil, but when it comes to being used by governments, those opposing realities must always be front of mind.
The alarms ring even louder now that even some creators and pioneers of AI are publicly warning that embracing it wholeheartedly is fraught with risk.
Harness it, yes. Capitalise on its benefits, certainly.
But when it comes to the vital work of government, which permeates everyone’s life, working out how to regulate its use must be the first priority.
Can someone send someone to a course on that, please?
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