Home Affairs blocks public servants from using ChatGPT

Home Affairs’ boss Mike Pezzullo is hopeful that a whole-of-government position on ChatGPT will emerge, with the department currently blocking the tool’s use by individuals and setting a high bar for experimentation.

Appearing at senate estimates yesterday, Pezzullo said he was “deeply concerned” about the prospect of AI use outside of “corporate” approval or governance, and had issued an internal directive specifically to limit ChatGPT’s use.

“Managing something corporately where you might have a proprietary engagement, where you know where the data’s stored and what limitations are placed on the data is one thing,” Pezzullo said.

“The question is whether as a department sitting within the broader government, we’re willing… I must say, I’m not at the moment. That’s why I’ve directed a suspension.”

Chief operating officer Justine Saunders said the department hadn’t completely banned experimentation with ChatGPT, but said any proposed use required specific corporate approval.

“We have initially at this point in time blocked it, and then parts of the department can seek a business case to access that capability, and have done so to this point in time, noting there’s certainly some value in exploring the capabilities as a tool for experimentation and learning and looking at utility for innovation and the like,” Saunders said.

“It’s not to be used for the purposes of making decisions, and it’s very critical we don’t incorporate [into] questions you’re asking ChatGPT, any information relating to the department.”

Pezzullo clarified that he did not want to see ChatGPT use in the department left to the individual.

“I don’t want a permissive situation where an officer can individually decide, without any safeguards, to use this technology because it’ll make [their] day go faster,” he said.

He further clarified that some of the basic text generation use cases for ChatGPT today were unlikely to meet the experimental bar set by the department.

“I doubt very much that the business case would be entertained where an officer says, ‘I’ve got to do a lot of ministerial representations because all these senators write to my minister. and this would be a way of generating responses more quickly. Do you mind if I [use] it to become more productive and efficient?’

“I don’t think that meets the standard of a business case.”

Pezzullo suggested that while large language models (LLMs) - the type of model that sits under ChatGPT - and machine learning (ML) has production use cases in the department, these were typically purchased "through proprietary arrangements".

"We can control that,” Pezzullo said.

“I’m concerned about open source technologies of this nature. You can’t control that.”

Pezzullo didn’t rule out blocking ChatGPT access and use on an individual access basis permanently, though he noted that ideally, the federal government would set an official stance on the tool’s use.

“When I ask the COO [Saunders], I say, ‘Where is the prescriptive document that says as a secretary of a Commonwealth department, here are the do’s and dont’s?” Pezzullo said.

“That document, regrettably at the moment, does not exist.”

Saunders added: “In regards to ChatGPT, it’s a whole-of-government issue.”

“It needs to be considered in Australian government along with private sector continually evaluating emerging technologies and assessing both their potential and the risks associated with their use in the public sector,” she said.