Siheung City in Gyeonggi Province announced its selection as the lead organization in the ‘Gyeonggi Province AI Proof of Concept Support Project’ overseen by Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Economic Science Promotion Agency. This prestigious designation comes with a grant of 300 million won to fund the project.
Over the next six months, starting this month and running through December, Siheung City will be engaging in tangible AI proof of concept support aimed at innovating public services and addressing societal issues.
The city’s focal project involves the development of an AI-powered service to enhance welfare-related administrative services. To achieve this, the city’s Information and Communication Department is forming a consortium with various participating organizations.
Their goal is to create a ‘small large language model (sLLM)’ based generative information provisioning engine. With this technology, the engine will be trained on welfare administrative data, resulting in a tailored AI service that can provide bidirectional communication with visitors on the city’s website.
Following the project, Siheung City plans to broaden the application of the results not only to welfare inquiries but also to expand into other administrative services, such as health, transportation, tourism, and culture.
The Information and Communication Department’s director, Kim Do-young, conveyed his optimism about the project. He explained the application of generative AI technology is expected to offer not just convenience and precision in welfare services, but also inclusive benefits to the underserved and vulnerable populations, ensuring they are not left out of the welfare landscape.
Relevant Facts to Consider:
1. Globally, artificial intelligence (AI) integration into government services is part of a growing trend of digital transformation aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving accessibility for citizens. Siheung City’s initiative can be seen within this larger context.
2. The Korean government has been actively promoting the use of AI for social good and innovation in various sectors, which this project aligns with.
3. AI initiatives typically require dealing with sensitive data. In the public sector, the management of personal information is subject to rigorous regulations to ensure privacy and security.
Important Questions and Answers:
1. How will Siheung City ensure the privacy and security of citizens’ data?
The project will likely be governed by South Korea’s strict data protection laws, including the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). It would require robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard the welfare data used to train the AI model.
2. Will the AI service be accessible to individuals not proficient with digital technology?
While the project aims to be inclusive, ensuring that all citizens, including the elderly or those with limited digital literacy, can use the services is a challenge. The city might have to implement parallel support systems or dedicated training programs.
Key Challenges and Controversies:
1. Ensuring Data Privacy and Security: Protecting sensitive welfare data is a significant challenge, particularly when AI systems require large data sets for training.
2. Bias and Fairness: AI systems may inadvertently learn and perpetuate biases present in the training data, leading to unfair treatment of certain groups.
3. Digital Divide: Despite efforts to be inclusive, there’s a risk that the technology may not reach or effectively serve all intended beneficiaries, possibly exacerbating the digital divide.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Advantages:
– Improved efficiency and personalized services in public administration.
– Potential cost savings for the city in the long term.
– Enhanced accessibility of services for citizens, contributing to a more informed and engaged citizenry.
Disadvantages:
– Implementation costs and the need for ongoing maintenance and updates.
– Risk of job displacement within public service roles traditionally filled by humans.
– Possible dependence on technology that may fail or malfunction, requiring robust contingency plans.
In the context of Siheung City, related links to main domains of entities likely to be associated with such initiatives include:
Official Website of Gyeonggi-Do
Official Website of Gyeonggi Provincial Government
Please note that digital innovations and the goals of Siheung City correspond with Korea’s broader efforts in AI, as indicated by initiatives like the “I-Korea 4.0” strategy aimed at fostering a fourth industrial revolution. While specific subpage URLs are not provided, the above links connect to the main domains of relevant provincial governmental authorities and may host further information on associated AI initiatives and digital policy strategies.
The source of the article is from the blog agogs.sk