Off the back of the Federal Government establishing its National framework for the assurance of artificial intelligence (AI) in government, the NSW Government’s digital arm has announced it will integrate its updated AI Assessment Framework into the Digital Assurance Framework.

The NSW Government was one of the first around the world to put into practice a framework that informed its applications and assurance of AI in government activities in 2022.

Digital NSW said the decision was made to merge the two frameworks due to the “evolving landscape” of AI and the risks presented by up and coming innovations such as generative AI.

It also means it will also apply to all government digital projects over $5 million and smaller projects considered high risk, such as generative AI.

“We recognise that there are benefits in using AI in society, and we can’t avoid using AI. We need to understand the risks and how to mitigate them,” Jessica Ho, Director of ICT Assurance at Digital NSW, said.

“With the rising use of Generative AI, we needed to refresh the AI Assessment Framework. By integrating the AI assurance risks into the Digital Assurance Framework, we can consider the suitability of AI solutions before we start to build and invest in them.

“This is not about stopping the use of AI. It’s a balanced approach to acknowledge the advantages of AI, which is embedded everywhere. By doing this, we help people understand the risks of using AI and where to go for answers.

“There’s still a lot of people out there that do not think they’re using AI, when they are. For their own benefit, and that of their customers, they can use this framework to understand the risks before taking action.”

The new framework also better aligns to the NSW Ethics Policy and provides more helpful tools and resources for agencies to assess and manage their exposure to risks in AI.

“Since the release of Generative AI like ChatGPT, we can now use our natural language to interact with computers, a significant advancement,” Daniel Roelink, Director of Digital Strategy and Architecture at Digital NSW, said.

“The new AI Assessment Framework is now easier to use and updated to address advancements in AI technology. Our goal is to ensure agencies use of AI is safe and responsible, and we are doing that by looking at how we can measure compliance.”