Collaborating with industry on artificial intelligence

The AI Advisory Committee formed in early 2021 with government and non-government experts to give us external and professional input on AI activity has now become the AI Review Committee.

The AI Advisory Committee plays a key role in reviewing the use of AI technology for decision-making and service delivery in the state. This committee developed a world-first AI assurance framework for government projects.

The NSW AI Assurance Framework assists agencies to design, build and use AI-enabled products and solutions. Consistent with the NSW Government AI Ethics Principles, the Framework is designed to help agencies identify risks that may be associated with their projects.

AI helps Revenue NSW to divert vulnerable customers from fines enforcement action. The case study on this work describes how AI has evolved this work and assesses the use of AI against the AI Ethics Policy.

Customers expect government to use emerging technologies to deliver better interactions using emerging technologies. Building digital and customer skills across government is a focus and six capabilities for the public sector are described in the Digital and Customer Capability Framework.

Starting this month, the NSW Government will publish a series of case studies to show how we develop and implement AI to do better for customers.

Each of the four case studies sets how well our decision-making around AI tests against the AI Strategy and AI Ethics Policy. This transparency is important in building understanding and trust.

Eleven industry experts have been appointed as inaugural members of the NSW Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Committee and will play a leading role on how AI is used in NSW. In addition to the core members, experts with knowledge in a particular area may also be invited to contribute.

The panel will use their extensive and varied experience to provide ongoing strategic advice on the use of AI to assist in decision-making and improving service delivery across the NSW Government.

The Committee members are:

• Theresa Anderson: Data and AI Ethicist, Research fellow at the School of Illinois, Member of International Council Committee on Data (CODATA), Sydney Ambassador for Women in Data Science Network
• Fang Chen: Executive Director Data Science/Distinguished Professor at UTS, Sydney
• Lee Hickin: National Technology Officer at Microsoft Australia
• Aurelie Jacquet: Chief Legal and Data Ethics Officer at Innovations Accelerated, Chair of the committee representing Australia at the International standard on AI (AI ISO) ·
• Peter Leonard: Principal at Data Synergies, Professor of Practice at UNSW Business School, Chair of the Australian IoT (Internet of Things) Alliance’s Data work stream, Chair of the Law Society of New South Wales Privacy and Data Committee, and the Australian Computer Society’s Artificial Intelligence and Ethics Technical Committee
• Maria Milosavljevic: Inaugural Chief Data Officer for Services Australia
• Dr Ian Oppermann: NSW Chief Data Scientist
• Edward Santow: Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission
• William (Bill) Simpson Young: Co-founder and Chief Executive of Gradient Institute ·
• Neil Soderlund: Chief Executive of Quantium Health & Government ·
• Martin Stewart-Weeks: Principal, Public Purpose Pty Ltd.

NSW Government leaders and artificial intelligence (AI) experts recently discussed the ethical and responsible future use of AI in government services at the NSW AI Summit in Sydney.

More than 250 people participated in the three-hour livestreamed summit on topics such as the development of an AI assurance framework, how technology can be used responsibly to improve customer services and key actions to build government maturity in AI.

The summit was one of the key actions under the AI Strategy released in August 2020.

Stream it on demand here. Summit agenda and list of speakers:

Have your say to shape the future of how government uses AI

We know that working with you is critical as we explore innovative ways to help our customers and communities.

Tell us what you think about our plans for AI by doing the survey, joining the discussion forum and voting in the quick poll.

AI is a fast-evolving technology that raises a number of ethical and technical issues. Constant developments and innovations mean that the development of a common set of standards is more important than ever.

Standards Australia is working with a range of countries on the development of AI Standards and has developed a roadmap that includes as a key goal ensuring that Australia can effectively influence AI standards development globally. The focus for the International Standards Organisation to date includes standards for data quality, reference architecture, concepts and terminology, functional safety and AI systems, risk management and trustworthiness and the use of ‘big data’ in AI.

We are involved in the development of standards for Australia through the NSW Government Chief Data Scientist.

NSW Trains uses cameras and sensors to capture data and record video of its trains. TrainDNA is the program that gathers and uses that data, helping automate maintenance inspections, improve operations and introduce predictive maintenance, reducing risk, saving time and money, and improving worker safety.

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was founded in 1901 and is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

NIST recently held a virtual workshop on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI). Explainable AI is a key element of trustworthy AI and there is significant interest in explainable AI from stakeholders, communities, and areas across this multidisciplinary field. As part of NIST’s efforts to provide foundational tools, guidance, and best practices for AI-related research, we released a draft whitepaper, Four Principles of Explainable Artificial Intelligence, for public comment. Inspired by comments received, this workshop delved further into developing an understanding of explainable AI. See https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence