The Mandarin has traditionally eschewed the use of artificial intelligence to help write our stories, but the announcement by prime minister Anthony Albanese late last week announced that the Australian Public Service will, from January 2024, officially trial Microsoft 365 Copilot has finally tipped our hand.
If you blinked you might have missed it, but on the sidelines of the APEC Summit last Thursday, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, pulled the ceremonial shrink wrap off the AI CD-ROM and gifted the PM with the opportunity of looking like a genuine world leader in the tech stakes for all of 15 minutes.
There was an announcement, but it was nowhere near the full-court press mounted over Microsoft’s earlier $5 billion investment in Australia. Nor was there a squeak out of the Department of Finance, Australian Public Service Commission or Digital Transformation Agency.
“The six-month trial will run from January to June 2024, with Microsoft providing training, onboarding and implementation assistance with participating agencies,” the PM’s statement said.
“This trial positions Australia as a leader in adopting artificial intelligence that increases productivity and is functional and fit for purpose. Following the trial, the DTA will evaluate their experience in order to assess opportunities, feedback, and report to the Government.”APSC
But if a day is a long time in politics, a weekend can be generational in the Valley.
By Monday, it transpired that Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI — the company that makes ChatGPT as well as the GPT4 platform that Microsoft Copilot is built on — had been fired by the board, with previous OpenAI founder Greg Brockman also jumping amid reports of other key staff not-so-quietly quitting.
Microsoft is OpenAI’s key backer, with estimates of how much it has ploughed into the private company sitting at around US$10 billion, although much of this is likely to be the way of infrastructure the AI firm would otherwise need to fork out cash for.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but what is known is that there has been widespread concern in the US tech industry about where the OpenAI Microsoft tie-up might lead.
We went straight to the source to get verified and trusted first-hand information about what really went down, and where it will take the APS. The source being Chat GPT 3.5.
The Mandarin: “Explain why Sam Altman was fired from Open AI”
ChatGPT: “As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, Sam Altman has not been fired from OpenAI. Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI, and he has been actively involved in leading the organization’s efforts in the field of artificial intelligence. Please note that my information might be outdated, and I recommend checking more recent and reliable sources for the latest updates on Sam Altman’s status at OpenAI.”
Well, that settles that.
It’s also not initially clear which agencies will be using Microsoft Copilot during the trial, though there are some obvious suspects.
Services Australia is one probability, given the clear desire to improve digital self-service, and that’s where chatbots originated. This said, most customer-facing agencies already have trained bots installed, it’s more the generative smarts that are untested in the APS and whether their outputs are reliable enough for daily use.
The other obvious use is for APS in-house coding, at least what is left of it.
Respected industry publication InnovationAus has observed that the Digital Transformation Agency’s industry briefing for local AI suppliers was a little upstaged by the PM’s big announcement.
Earlier this month the DTA issued a request for information on generative AI platforms with a view to fostering a whole of government approach.
Like the cloud and enterprise software markets, much of local industry is fed up with laborious and expensive procurement processes that land little work because of big deals struck with multinationals like Microsoft.
The DTA was meant to change that, but many believe the agency’s fate may be sealed in the next Budget now that it has been sent to the Department of Finance.
The DTA’s digital profession function, which was intended to develop an internal government digital cadre has been sent to the Australian Public Service Commission to put the kybosh on a recommendation in the Thodey review that technologists ought to have their own APS classification.
Finance and Public Service minister Katy Gallagher welcomed the Microsoft Copilot trial.
“AI is emerging as a widely used technology and presents many opportunities for government and the way it delivers crucial services to the Australian community, but we must adopt it in a safe and controlled way,” Gallager said.
“This exciting pilot will support the government’s APS reform agenda by identifying how we can safely use this technology to improve our work and service delivery but do so in a way that is controlled and allows us to learn the lessons with minimal impact on existing processes and services.”
From the robodebt royal commission response to APS reform supported by big tech AI with an APS integrity action plan launch on Friday afternoon. Things certainly are busy at the APSC.
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