AQW 20136/22-27

Ms Kate Nicholl
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 08/01/2025
Answered On Date: 15/01/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance to detail any steps being taken to enhance the understanding of artificial intelligence in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Answer:

The adoption and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers many opportunities to examine how processes and procedures could be improved to drive efficiencies and effectiveness across the Civil Service and the wider public sector.

A number of departments are experimenting with this new technology while being cognisant of the risks. My department is running a few small-scale Proof of Value (PoV) projects to examine the use of AI in a controlled and measured way to understand how this technology can deliver value in the public sector.

One of these PoVs is to investigate how a chatbot can reduce complexity, save time, and make interactions with a government service simpler and faster. The technology responds to user questions using existing published information. Another PoV involves the use of an AI coding assistant that helps our developers become more efficient in writing code, quickly identifying and rectifying errors, increasing efficiency and productivity.

However, these opportunities must be considered in the light of the challenges such as the availability and suitability of data, data protection, data privacy and cyber security alongside the wider issues with AI such as usage monitoring, bias, incorrect information, data poisoning, incorrect predictions, and hallucinations.

The Civil Service has established an AI working group made up of digital staff from across departments to share learnings from current initiatives and disseminate guidance and updates from other jurisdictions.