GovGPT Pilot Promises Faster Access To Government Business Support

Callaghan Innovation will pilot GovGPT, an AI conversational companion, to help businesses get the information they need from several Government websites much faster.

The AI tool was announced today by Minister for Science Technology and Innovation, Judith Collins, at the 2024 Aotearoa AI Summit in Auckland.

GovGPT provides accurate and referenceable information from a range of different Government websites through natural language conversations.

“We know there’s a lot of Government support and information out there to help businesses thrive. But it can be hard to find and is often located across a number of different sites. Businesses often don’t have time to hunt around for what they need from Government, so there’s a risk of missing out on support or crucial information,” says Sarah Sun, Callaghan Innovation Head of AI and Digital.

“Ultimately, our vision is for a simple, digital front-door where Kiwis can quickly and easily get answers to their questions about Government support and services. Anyone should be able to access important information in a way that’s most intuitive to humans – natural conversations in their preferred language. GovGPT is a first step.”

Callaghan Innovation partnered with Whāriki Māori Business Network and a technology provider to develop the GovGPT proof of concept in less than two months and by combining the existing functionality of large language models (LLMs) and a library of existing software modules.

GovGPT features multilingual support in many common languages, including text-based Te Reo Māori. “It’s great to have Whāriki Māori Business Network on board to help us ensure the cultural relevance, and appropriateness of content so we can offer a comprehensive, valuable tool for all users,” says Sarah Sun.

The GovGPT pilot is already ‘multimodal’ so it can support both text and speech chats. But the pilot will also be updated and improved rapidly over the next few months to create a seamless user experience, including customisation options for the conversational companion, such as different voices, tone and speech speed.

“We are keen to ensure GovGPT meets the varying needs of the diverse business community in Aotearoa New Zealand so that finding important Government information is as easy as having a conversation with someone,” she says.

GovGPT uses a technique called “Retrieval Augmented Generation” (RAG) to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the generative AI model by fetching relevant facts from a set of Government websites.

GovGPT will be demonstrated at the AI Summit on the Callaghan Innovation stand, where the GovGPT project team will encourage feedback from conference attendees to support the development of the pilot.

Callaghan Innovation is planning to make the GovGPT pilot available on its website in October. Businesses and organisations interested in this technology are encouraged to contact Callaghan Innovation for assistance implementing a version of GovGPT for their own websites.

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