Scot Gov staff furious after SNP ministers ban ChatGPT in favour of ‘pointless’ tech
Credit: BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images
NATS ministers have angered civil servants by banning them from using AI chatbots including ChatGPT.
Officials have been handed new rules for which artificial intelligence tools they are allowed to use.
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ChatGPT is banned by the Scottish GovernmentCredit: Alamy Stock Photo
But many found themselves unable to access the popular ChatGPT chatbot, which was blocked last month by the Scottish Government.
One frustrated civil servant told The Scottish Sun: “It just strikes me as classic civil service.
“Any new piece of technology they’d rather panic over it and ban it than invest in the training to actually use it.”
The staffer fumed at the ban and pointed at other parts of the civil service within the UK Government, such as the Ministry of Justice, which is still allowed to use ChatGPT.
They added Scottish civil servants were now forced to use Microsoft’s AI tool Copilot, but said it was “pointless” and couldn’t be used for “analysis or deepthinking”, and was unable to access anything from the web.
SNP ministers are trying to cut the bill of the Scottish civil service by around £1billion a year – with AI and automation highlighted as a potential driver of cost-cutting.
ChatGPT is one of the most popular AI chatbots with users able to ask it to analyse large amounts of information quickly.
In a freedom of information response from May 2023, the Scottish Government admitted the AI had been used dozens of times by civil servants across different departments.
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This included creating drafts of social media posts, help with coding, and researching the renewables industry.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is the Scottish Government’s duty to protect public sector data and ensure the safe use of AI technologies.
“For this reason, staff are limited to approved AI tools, as appropriate to different circumstances.”
