Artificial Intelligence and public records
There are many generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems currently available and being developed such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, and Bing AI. The Queensland Government has developed a secure generative AI system known as QChat.
Generative AI systems continue to learn and evolve and can be used to:
- Make new content based on existing available information
- Draw on user prompts that have been added to the AI system.
Generative AI systems are not recordkeeping systems so you will need to capture any records made in your public authority's existing recordkeeping system.
Guidance on AI systems will evolve over time. The advice available below is to help your public authority in meeting its recordkeeping responsibilities. This advice aims to support your existing recordkeeping framework.
Recordkeeping and generative AI systems
Generative AI virtual assistants, such as QChat and Microsoft 365 Copilot use prompts to generate responses. These systems do not independently make, action, or send information to other systems.
The recordkeeping requirements for generative AI are the same recordkeeping requirements public authorities have for all their business activities. Public authorities must assess the value of content made by generative AI systems and retain for the appropriate time. To determine the value of the content made by generative AI systems use the following:
- Your existing legislative and policy frameworks
- Section 14 of the Public Records Act 2023 to make and keep public records about the business activities of your public authority
- The 6 policy requirements of the Records governance policy
- Relevant retention and disposal schedules including the General retention and disposal schedule to establish a minimum retention period for the public records.
When content is made and does not have ongoing business or legal value for your public authority, it can likely be classified as transitory or short-term value.
Minimum retention periods
QChat public records are retained in the system for 3 months and will be disposed of once 6 months has passed.
This reminds users that QChat is a repository for transitory and short-term value public records only.
Alternative generative AI systems such as Microsoft 365 Copilot or ChatGPT may not have automatically set retention and disposal timeframes so you will need to investigate what retention and disposal features exist in these products if used.
Your public authority must comprehensively document all interactions related to generative AI systems, regardless of whether it is functioning as a virtual assistant or creating official documents. To maintain transparent and traceable AI system processes and ensure internal governance and public accountability is met, you must:
- Manage the public records of prompts, responses, conversations, and all the processing steps. Retain public records in accordance with the minimum retention requirements
- Ensure when using a generative AI system response to create content, that the source of data can be identified. QChat has been designed to allow source data to be accessible. Identification of source data may not be readily available or accessible in some systems such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Purview.
Use existing systems and processes to relate the AI generated content to the final official document to ensure the public record is complete and reliable and is made in a way that that accurately shows actions or decisions and the matters that inform or contextualise those actions or decisions.
Information made through generative AI systems is only as accurate as the information the response is sourced from. Retention of redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT) information such as transitory or short-term value information, may lead to confusing or incorrect responses from AI.
Your public authority may enable archive and deletion policies on collaborative platforms to automate removal of transitory material. Ongoing removal of obsolete, irrelevant content focuses generative AI systems.
Impact of outdated documents
A public authority may have many versions of a document saved within a system.
When formulating a response, a generative AI system may use an outdated document that has been identified as recently opened, rather than utilising the final version of document.
To find out about Queensland Government’s Artificial Intelligence strategy, email help@ai.qld.gov.au.