Technology Minister Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government is venturing into the world of artificial intelligence, launching a virtual assistant dubbed Gov-GPT, modelled on Chat-GPT.
Technology Minister Judith Collins announced the new tool at the Aotearoa AI Summit in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
Callaghan Innovation will run a pilot of the chatbot, designed to help Kiwis easily find information about the government and its agencies.
"GovGPT is an exciting first step towards a vision of a 'digital front-door', where individuals can find answers to their questions about government in a convenient and timely way," Collins said.
Judith Collins posted an AI generated picture of herself on Instagram. Photo: Supplied / screenshot
Callaghan Innovation is also debuting a separate programme to encourage businesses to take up AI, offering access to research and expert assistance, as well as potential grants.
Both projects were being funded through baselines.
Collins said the government was keen to safely maximise the value of AI for the economy and all New Zealanders.
"AI is predicted to contribute $76 billion to the New Zealand's annual GDP by 2038," Collins said.
"It is crucial we support businesses to improve their awareness and uptake of AI, so they can capitalise on the benefits as the rest of the world rapidly adopts this technology."