FOI reference: FOI-2024-1819
You asked
I am requesting the following information under the FOI act:
The total spending on AI chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT, Bard etc.) for the year ending Dec 2023 and year ending Dec 2022, broken down by the name of the chatbot
The number of people with access to AI chatbots for the year ending Dec 2023 and for the year ending Dec 2022, broken down by the number of people using/accessing a paid-for service and those using free versions of the technology
The teams within the department with access and the reason for their access
We said
Thank you for your request.
In the 12 months to December 2022, UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) did not hold any subscriptions to commercial AI chatbot services and as such had not made any payments for these services.
In the 12 months to December 2023, payment of $551 was made to OpenAI for ChatGPT services. The reason for these payments was to provide four employees with ChatGPT accounts for the purposes of conducting an initial assessment of the service.
In addition, payment of up to $50 was made to OpenAI for access to a suite of Large Language Models. In total 18 people had access to this paid service, covering the following groups:
Economic, Social and Environmental Statistics
Health, Population and Methods
Data Capability
Corporate Services
The reason for these payments was for the purpose of conducting an initial assessment of the service, covering several themes including:
Considering the risks of using Large Language Models (LLMs) including in relation to data protection and security, and the presence of bias and inaccurate information
Establishing business management and security operating procedures that would need to be applied if these tools were ever to be used.
Identifying potential use cases of the service
This assessment is likely to continue over the course of several months.
At ONS we are trusted to handle a wide range of sensitive information, and it is essential that this trust is maintained. We are aware of the potential issues and risks with using AI tools, and as such the use of these tools is restricted for ONS employees not undertaking the assessments mentioned above, consistent with the ONS IT Acceptable Use Policy.
Any assessment of where these tools could be used in the organisation would be guided by Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) guidance and would be subject to a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), underlining our commitment to safeguard confidentiality, protect privacy and uphold government security and data handling standards.