Artificial Intelligence systems like ChatGPT should be employed by the government to help run the country, Britain’s science minister has claimed.
Michelle Donelan MP, a government minister for the Conservative Party administration in Britain, has said that AI applications along the lines of Chat GPT have great potential, and that officials should not be afraid of embracing the technology to help them run the country.
It comes as artificial intelligence gains ground in other parts of Europe, with Romania’s prime minister unveiling what he claims to be the world’s first AI government advisor last week.
Donelan, whose own professional background is in marketing for the likes of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), reportedly believes that AI technology can have a role in aiding governance, saying that it was now up to officials to figure out how best to utilise the likes of chatbots in the work of government.
“We should never be afraid of these technologies. We should be embracing them,” the minister told The Telegraph.
Donelan added that while she did not see it as being a good idea for AI to be employed in an advisory role, or in a way that forms government or state policy on issues, there are likely other ways that the technology could be employed by officials.
“We need to think about what is the use for ChatGPT… just like any other organisation would as well,” she said, adding that organisations outside government should also be readily embracing chatbots to help boost their productivity.
“I think these types of technology are going to create a whole new section of jobs and in areas that we haven’t even thought of, and where this leads us is limitless,” she said — although so far it looks more likely to replace people’s jobs than create them.
“Of course we need regulation in place, we need safeguards. But we should never be afraid of these technologies. We should be embracing them and utilising them so that they can lead to job creation here in the UK.”
Donelan’s position that private organisations should be employing the use of chatbots in their operations does not appear to be shared by all, with a number of businesses in the United Kingdom and beyond warning staff to avoid using the likes of ChatGPT over security and other concerns.
Others have meanwhile expressed concerns about the leftist bias of ChatGPT in particular, which often refuses to praise figures on the right for fear of being “inappropriate” while openly being willing to support left-wing causes.
Nevertheless, the science minister’s vote of confidence in emerging AI technology like ChatGPT appears to be part of a growing trend in Europe, with a number of lawmakers on the continent seemingly bullish on the rising uses of artificial intelligence.
Nicolae Ciucă, the Prime Minister of Romania, appears to be in the vanguard of this new trend, with the premiere introducing his Cabinet to their new robot colleague, Ion, during a press event last week.
Billed as being the first AI government advisor, Ion has reportedly been designed by researchers in the country to help government officials gauge the views of the general public, who will be able to communicate with the non-human intelligence via a government website, Twiter, or — in the future — a number of real-life locations that have yet to be announced.
According to Ciucă, Romanian citizens should see it as their “obligation” to communicate with Ion, with the PM saying that such interaction is needed in order to get the bot fully up and running in its new position.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.