NSW govt creates Office for Artificial Intelligence

The NSW government has created an Office for Artificial Intelligence (AI), sitting within Digital NSW in the Department of Customer Service, aiming to help drive and coordinate the safe, strategic adoption of AI across the state government.

It will set robust standards and provide advice to support best practice use of AI in helping to enhance public sector productivity and ensure the technology and its use are trustworthy for the community.

The new office will also build AI literacy across the public service to ensure agencies feel confident to incorporate the technology into solutions.

While Generative AI (GenAI) is expected to contribute around $115 billion to the Australian economy by 2030, the dedicated office will help identify and limit risk in order to maximise potential benefits.

The Government also plans to release an updated AI Assessment Framework later this year, following a partnership with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The Office for AI has been established for an initial two-year period and its work will complement the role of the existing AI Review Committee, which reviews high-risk AI projects being proposed by the NSW Government.

The Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Jihad Dib, said AI is increasingly part of everyday lives and the government needs to make sure it is used responsibly and provides clear benefits for the community.

“The new Office for AI will not only lead NSW’s use of AI but will set the roadmap on how to safely and responsibly incorporate and manage emerging technologies for more effective delivery of government services in the future," he said.

The NSW government's chief information and digital officer, Laura Christie, said this new function within Digital NSW positions the NSW public sector to drive use of AI and harness its benefits across departments and agencies and for the people of NSW.

“We are building on our strong foundations to drive the trustworthiness and use of these new technologies which will change the way we support customers across the state," she said.

Earlier this year, the 7,000-employee NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) put out an expression of interest for providing an AI-driven “talent intelligence and workforce mobility platform”.

In July, the NSW Office of the Public Service Commissioner issued guidelines stating that AI "should not" be used for making recruitment-based decisions, with a particular emphasis on avoiding its use for ‘highly specialised roles.’"