A national examination of the current and anticipated use of Generative AI (GenAI) in policy work. Between November 2024 to January 2025, senior public servants from 22 state, territory and federal government agencies participated in research to understand how GenAI is used in policy work, including perspectives of risks and enablers for adoption.
It sought to understand how senior Australian public servants perceived the strengths and weaknesses of these applications, the potential of GenAI for policy work, and what needs to happen to make GenAI safe to use in policy work.
This research focuses on one form of AI, known as Generative AI (GenAI). Content generated might be text, image, video or audio. There are a broad range of potential applications for GenAI in the work that governments do, including, for example, supporting the development of chatbots, improving data management and supporting employee productivity.
Many government agencies are using GenAI to support their goals. However, opinions on GenAI’s potential varies among senior public servants. Some believe it can transform policy work, while others are cautious due to perceived risks. Past challenges with technology implementation, including learnings from policy failures identified from the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, are influencing how senior public servants perceive advancements in the application of GenAI. There is widespread agreement that the use of GenAI in policy work requires adequate human oversight.