Implication if Civil Servants Use ChatGPT to Write Reports and Speeches
Prime Minister's OfficeSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the use of large language models like ChatGPT by civil servants, as raised by Mr Yip Hon Weng regarding reporting accuracy and job security. Senior Minister of State Dr Janil Puthucheary stated that the Government is developing "Pair," an assistive tool that maintains data confidentiality through an agreement with Azure OpenAI. He emphasized that highly sensitive reports will still be written exclusively by civil servants, who remain accountable for the accuracy and relevance of all content. Senior Minister of State Dr Janil Puthucheary added that the tool is expected to redevelop job roles rather than cause redeployment, though specific productivity gains are currently being evaluated. The Government will pilot the tool in select agencies to refine its use before considering a wider rollout across the broader civil service.
Transcript
8 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Prime Minister with the use of ChatGPT by civil servants to write reports and speeches (a) what are the types of reports that will still be done exclusively by civil servants; and (b) how will the Government ensure and validate the accuracy of ChatGPT-assisted reports and speeches.
The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, as part of our efforts to utilise technology to encourage innovation and productivity in the public sector, the Government is exploring how large language models, such as those underlying ChatGPT can help officers do their work more effectively. One such effort is the development of Pair, in which we see potential in helping civil servants with parts of the writing process, such as summarising long reference material, exploring related ideas, or improving the clarity of writing.
Pair is still being developed. The Government aims to pilot this with a number of agencies and will carefully evaluate the results before determining how best to roll it out to the broader civil service. To ensure data security, the Government has struck an agreement with Azure OpenAI, the large language model provider, for Government information to remain confidential. In addition to these technical safeguards, work that contains highly confidential or sensitive information will still be written exclusively by civil servants.
As suggested by the name "Pair", the intent is for it to serve as an assistive tool that civil servants can leverage to improve their productivity, rather than entirely automating the writing process. Ultimately, civil servants using the tool are still directly responsible for making policy decisions, as well as crafting, refining and customising the content of documents to ensure that they are relevant, accurate and appropriate.
The Government is committed to ensuring that we are well-positioned to benefit from innovations, such as ChatGPT, while managing the associated risks.
Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.
Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I have two supplementary questions. First is, how much productivity gain is expected to be achieved as a result of this initiative; and two, will the affected civil servants be redeployed to other portfolios or take on other forms of work.
Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, it is a little bit too early to calculate the expected gain in productivity. The tool is still being developed. The second question about redeployment, our experience in other parts of Government, with the use of productivity enhancement tools or automation, has resulted not in redeployment of personnel, so much as redevelopment of job roles and the tasks that officers are engaged in.
This has been our experience for a number of years across the number of Ministries and agencies. It remains to be seen what the effect will be of this tool, as I said, it is early days yet.