The governments of Queensland and South Australia are actively supporting and experimenting with generative AI (GenAI) on the Azure OpenAI service. Queensland has initiated the development of QChat, an internal government Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) tool powered by Azure OpenAI, designed for experimentation across various agencies. QChat, currently in private preview, aims to provide public servants with secure, logged, and technology-agnostic access to AI tools, starting with a chat interface. The government is also working on the QG AI platform to set up AI products for common use cases and establish access guardrails.
In South Australia, the Department of Education conducted an eight-week trial of EdChat, an Azure OpenAI-backed tool, testing how generative AI could positively impact learning opportunities for over 1500 students and 150 educators from eight schools. Unlike other jurisdictions with bans on generative AI use in schools, South Australia’s trial tailors responses to the student’s year level, offering personalized guidance. The success of EdChat has led to considerations for its expansion.
Both states have released specific guidelines on engaging safely with generative AI in a government context. South Australia’s detailed guidelines suggest considering Microsoft’s Azure Open AI service to reduce information confidentiality risks associated with open access Language Model AI. The guidelines highlight that Azure OpenAI does not use enterprise data to train the model but caution on careful consideration for out-of-region cloud access due to storage policies.
These initiatives reflect a growing interest in leveraging generative AI capabilities within government operations for improved services and learning experiences.
