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The Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) has announced a public trial of AI-enabled search on its website, making it the first federal government department to do so.
The AI-search tool, which was launched on the website in beta, has been designed to assist veterans and their families in navigating the often complex landscape of government policy.
Prior to the AI-search being implemented, DVA assistant secretary of communications Ingrid Nagy said that roughly 90 per cent of people looking for department information currently use Google rather than the agency’s existing search functions.
“That’s probably a commonality for many people, but our preference was to create something that would lead people to come to our website and stay here,” she said at the AI Innovation Showcase in Canberra.
“We expect this will not only be a better experience, but it will achieve some efficiencies in terms of whether people need to [use] our call centre or seek other assistance to get that information.”
The agency’s AI chief, Andrew Powrie, clarified that the AI does not search internal systems or store personal data, nor does it train itself on interactions with users.
“A toxicity and trust layer filters out abusive, offensive or unsafe language,” he said.
“The system maintains professional language standards and ensures every iteration aligns with DVA’s values and communication guidelines.”
Additionally, a year after the federal government as a whole launched a six-month trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot, the DVA has begun a “small-scale” trial of Copilot, which the department said is “consistent with trials by other Australian government departments”.
Despite not participating in the wider Copilot trial, DVA said it is also accessing the whole-of-government GovAI environment, potentially adopting government AI tools to speed up DVA operations such as claims processing.
“Current testing on the GovAI technology platform does not use veteran personal data,” DVA said.
DVA said it is dedicated to the safe and ethical use of AI, having established an AI Advisory Board and committed to following the government’s policy for the responsible use of AI in government.
However, when sharing specific and important information like government policy with veterans, AI hallucination is a very real concern.
AI’s generation of incorrect or misleading information could lead to misunderstandings about entitlements or services, potentially impacting their access to support.
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