To what extent is generative AI already in use in the public sector? A survey by The Alan Turing Institute - the UK's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence - sought to answer that.

In summary:

• 45% of respondents were aware of generative AI usage within their area of work, while 22% actively use a generative AI system; 
• the survey found a high amount of trust (61%) around generative AI outputs, and a low fear of replacement (16%);
• areas of concern included feeling like the UK is missing out on opportunities to use AI to improve public services (76%), and only a minority of respondents (32%) felt like there was clear guidance on generative AI usage in their workplaces;
• “it is clear that generative AI is already transforming the public sector, but uptake is happening in a disorganised fashion without clear guidelines.” 

This report comes at a time where the UK's National Audit Office has also surveyed use of AI - including but not limited to generative AI - in UK government (see our article here).

The report should also be seen in the context that government is looking to AI and other digital technologies to increase public sector productivity (for example, this speech by the Deputy Prime Minister). The Alan Turing report noted:

However, despite a number of promising, large-scale public sector ‘digital transformation’ initiatives and policies across government, recent UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has highlighted that total public service productivity only grew by an average of 0.2% per year between 1997 and 2019, with several service areas completely static or seeing diminishing growth. In other words, up until today, the public sector has not taken much advantage of the major changes in digital technology that have been seen in the last two decades, or at least such changes have not been translated into enhanced productivity. … The emergence of GenAI seems to create the opportunity to change this dynamic.

What is notable about the report is that use of AI varies depending on whether it's personal or professional use, the type of AI, and the sector.  Each gives rise to different potential use cases, investments required, legal and regulatory obligations, and also to different risk profiles and mitigations:

One of the concluding remarks of the report is that: “Considering the positive results reported by those who are using the technology, this seems like an opportunity for the public sector to push further, and ensure that it is rolled out more widely.” Given UK government's intent to improve public sector productivity, such remarks are likely well received. However, there appears to be a disconnect between respondents' understanding of generative AI use and risks in their context versus that in the public sector organisation:

Government is already seeking to address a number of those issues.  Government has published its framework for generative AI (here) and guidance to AI assurance (here), alongside various other resources (for example, see those listed in the recent Procurement Policy Note 02/24 here). It will be of interest to see what future results look like for surveys of generative AI use in the public sector.

If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, David Varney, Martin Cook or any other member in our Technology team.

The report is available here: Generative AI is already widespread in the public sector | The Alan Turing Institute /  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.01291.  Citation: arXiv:2401.01291