Standards watchdog acknowledges “potentially huge benefits” of AI to public sector, but calls for “clear standards and greater transparency”

The Committee on Standards in Public Life is to host a round table to see if, as the public sector moves into a new AI-enabled age, frameworks and governance are being developed that will give the public confidence that new technologies will be used in a way that upholds the Seven Principles of Public Life.

In a blog Lord Jonathan Evans, the watchdog’s chair, acknowledged how "ChatGPT and other AI tools are starting to transform our interactions with a range of organisations, including the public sector", but warned that regulators need to act quicky to keep up with the technology.

On release, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing application in history, gaining more than 100 million users in just two months. It has since been put to use in professional settings in a variety of ways, including content writing, email drafting, and programming. 

Evans highlighted the Committee’s 2020 report, Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards, in which it argued that all seven of the Nolan principles of public life were relevant and valid as AI was increasingly used for public service delivery.

However the report concluded that AI posed a challenge to three Principles in particular: openness, accountability, and objectivity.

The report argued that public sector organisations were not sufficiently transparent about their use of AI and that it was too difficult to find out where machine learning was currently being used in Government.

It went on to call for a coherent regulatory and governance framework for AI in the public sector and to produce practical guidance and enforceable regulation on transparency and data bias as a matter of urgency.

At the time, the Committee concluded that the UK did not need a new AI regulator "but that all regulators must adapt to the challenges that AI poses to their sectors".

The Government later established the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) as an independent, statutory body that advises Government and regulators in this area.

In his blog Lord Evans said the CSPL had retained "a close watching brief on progress in this area and intends to hold a round table in the Autumn to see if – three years on – we are developing the frameworks and governance that will give the public confidence that new technologies will be used in a way that upholds the Seven Principles of Public Life as the public sector moves into a new AI-enabled age".

It added: "There are exciting benefits to be gained from this new technology; government and regulators need to act swiftly to keep up with the pace of AI innovation."

Adam Carey