Artifical Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way the public purpose sector operates. In this special event summary and podcast episode, IPAA Victoria explores emerging risks and opportunities for the public sector. 

IPAA Victoria’s recent event ‘AI and the future of governance’ explored this theme with:

• Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director, Melbourne Connect, University of Melbourne
• Daniel Quinn, General Manager, Enabling Technologies Branch, Department of Industry Science and Resources, Australian Government
• Kristy Hornby, Chair, Risk Community of Practice, IPAA Victoria, and Associate Director, Grosvenor
• Peter Williams, Chief Edge Officer, Centre for the Edge, Deloitte Australia
• Jackson Calvert-Lane, Engineering Manager, Optimal Reality, Deloitte Australia
• Benjamin Yong, Senior Software Engineer, Optimal Reality, Deloitte Australia.

Key learnings

Imagine a world where all of humanity’s collective knowledge is at your fingertips, accessible in the context you need.

During the event, the audience could participate in a Q&A based on the themes explored. Many of the questions touched on seeking practical advice from the panel of experts.

Some key themes explored included:

• “AI almost touches everything we do.”
• There are varied possible applications of AI in government in areas of cybersecurity, predictive policing and law enforcement, healthcare and epidemic monitoring, and disaster response and relief management.
• The evolution of AI from old AI to machine learning to deep learning.
• Chat GPT is a very big database of text fragments, and while it is powerful, it has no understanding of truth, cannot reason, and has no goals or wishes.
• Validation of data inputs and outputs is critical to successfully using programs such as Chat GPT.
• “AI has a huge potential to revolutionise the services it delivers to the Australian public … a five-fold, ten-fold increase in productivity”
• A principles-based approach to the ethical use of AI in government includes supporting the responsible and safe use of technology; minimising harm, reducing the risk of negative impact on those affected by AI applications; increasing transparency and building community trust.
• Optimal reality optimises decision support in live operations in areas of traffic control, airspace and rail.
• It is critical for government departments and agencies to map their capability profile, identify any gaps and look to close them through recruitment, upskilling, and encouraging a culture of learning and testing, not just adapting.
• Lastly, it isn’t possible to foresee where AI technology will lead us as a sector and broader society.

Podcast episode: Unanswered audience questions (Part 1)

To continue the conversation, host Josef Oduwo, executive program director, change & transformation, Department of Health, and guest presenter Professor Eduard Hovy, executive director, Melbourne Connect, University of Melbourne, responds to some of the unanswered audience questions that were submitted during the event.

I think the additional scrutiny that AI demands from government is that when you use AI, make sure you’ve done it with due diligence and make sure that you have actually checked and confirmed (the results) with your human insight…. We need to have some kind of rules to say that if you don’t use AI properly, then you should not be allowed to use AI.

Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director, Melbourne Connect, University of Melbourne