Singapore’s Government is exploring how large language models, such as those underlying ChatGPT, can help Public Servants do their job more effectively.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, Janil Puthucheary said the initiative was part of an effort to utilise technology and encourage innovation and productivity in the public sector.
Responding to a Parliamentary question on the use of ChatGPT by Public Servants in writing reports, and ways in which the Government ensures the accuracy of ChatGPT assisted reports and speeches, Mr Puthucheary (pictured) gave the example of the development of the Pair system.
“This system will help Civil Servants with parts of the writing process, such as summarising long reference materials, exploring related ideas and improving clarity in writing,” Mr Puthucheary said.
“Pair is still being developed, and the Government will pilot it with a number of Agencies and carefully evaluate the results before determining how best to roll it out to the broader Civil Service.”
He also revealed that the Government had struck an agreement with Azure Open AI, to help keep Government information confidential.
“In addition to the technical safeguards, work containing highly confidential or sensitive information will still be exclusively written by Civil Servants,” Mr Puthucheary said.
“The intent of Pair is to serve as an assistive tool that Civil Servants can leverage to improve their productivity rather than entirely automating the writing process.”
He said Public Servants using the tool would still be directly responsible for making policy decisions, as well as crafting, refining and customising the content of their documents to ensure they were relevant, accurate and appropriate.
Singapore, 14 March 2023
