Scotland will become the first part of the UK to make it mandatory to register the use of AI tools or applications within the public sector.
Every public sector project using AI will be registered on the Scottish AI Register, a publicly accessible database that aims to provide citizens with information on the use of the technology.
Registration is currently voluntary, but mandatory registration will be phased in, starting with Scottish Government departments.
Richard Lochhead, Scottish Government Innovation Minister, said the plan aims to improve confidence in the use of technology across the public sector.
“From diagnosing cancer to helping us on our journey to net zero emissions, AI is a powerful and rapidly developing tool that the public sector can use to help drive efficiencies and deliver solutions,” he said.
“Making registration of AI use in the public sector mandatory will not only give the public greater confidence that AI is used openly and transparently, but will also act as an increasingly powerful source of best practice, helping to ensure that AI is used in a way that is economically and technically viable and has a positive impact on all of society.”
The registry will include information on the development and use of each AI system implemented by a public service or government department, from conception through development, operation and, where applicable, retirement.
This will include details about the data used in any AI system, how the technology works, and information about risk management procedures and accountability.
As part of the plan, the public can also request information about the use of technology and provide feedback to departments or services.
One organization already listed as a project is the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, which is exploring several possible theoretical ways in which AI could be used within the Children's Hearings system.
“As a public body working in a sensitive area of service delivery, we wanted to be completely honest and open about our initial exploratory work on possible future uses of technology that could have a positive impact on our skilled work,” said the CEO and director. reporter Neil Hunter.
“Our involvement in the register also generated a lot of support and advice from across the Scottish Government and partners on research and evidence issues, experience elsewhere from a national and global perspective – and most importantly for us – access to expertise on issues of ethics, impact, rights and privacy.”
The move by the devolved Scottish administration comes as the UK government hopes to broadly integrate AI tools across public services.
Last year, he announced the creation of a new 'AI Incubator' team and committed to upskilling thousands of public officials in areas such as programming, engineering, data science and machine learning.
“The potential productivity benefits from applying these technologies to routine tasks across the public sector are estimated to be worth billions,” Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said at the time.
The use of AI and emerging technologies in the public sector has been a contentious topic over the past 18 months amid the rise of generative AI.
Data privacy and public safety have been flagged as key concerns by industry stakeholders and think tanks, and research in February shows public sector bodies are not always rigorous in their use of the AI.
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request filed by digital adoption company WalkMe showed that only a quarter of UK public bodies have established safe use policies for AI in the workplace.
While 19% are in the process of developing policies, 39% currently allow employees to use technology without any protection.
