Following OpenAI’s restrictions, the Hong Kong government will adopt its own ChatGPT-style tool. The Hong Kong government is set to deploy a locally developed AI tool similar to ChatGPT, following OpenAI’s recent move to restrict further access to its models in Hong Kong and mainland China. Sun Dong, the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, announced the AI program, designed mainly for clerical work, will eventually be available to the public.
Sun described the new tool as the “Hong Kong version of ChatGPT.” This advanced AI model can comprehend complex prompts and generate human-like responses. Named the “document editing co-pilot application for civil servants,” the tool was created by the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Centre (HKGAI) under the government’s InnoHK innovation program.
The HKGAI Centre was established in October last year by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in partnership with four other tertiary institutions. The goal is to advance research and development in generative AI technology.
“We will eventually open the use of the system to the whole society of Hong Kong,” Sun stated on a radio program, adding that user feedback would be used to refine the system. He emphasized that the AI system requires extensive training and usage to function effectively and noted that initial trials have been smooth.
Enhanced Public Service Efficiency
Sun Dong announced that the Hong Kong government will adopt its own ChatGPT-style tool for official use. A spokesman for the government’s chief information officer explained that the new AI system’s auxiliary writing function could assist in drafting, translating, and summarizing documents. This would improve the efficiency of public service staff. The system was developed using HKGAI’s own generative AI technology, with an independently established database and a large language model.
Sun explained that the development of this home-grown system began after OpenAI launched ChatGPT. Last month, OpenAI announced it would block connections to its application programming interfaces from regions it does not support, including Hong Kong, mainland China, and Macau. These restrictions took effect on July 9 in the US.
Given the significant investment required, Sun noted that it made sense for the government to develop and eventually open this system to other users. “Given Hong Kong’s current situation, it will be tough for the city to have big companies such as Microsoft or Google to subsidize such projects, so let’s have the Hong Kong government do this job,” he said.
Security and Privacy Concerns
To replace restricted access to OpenAI models, the Hong Kong government will adopt its own ChatGPT-style tool. Sun previously mentioned that the government had no plans to adopt ChatGPT for internal use due to potential information security risks. OpenAI has yet to give official approval for the use of its model in Hong Kong.
In a separate initiative, Hong Kong and mainland China launched a pilot scheme last December to facilitate easier cross-border data transfers in the Greater Bay Area. Initially targeting the banking, credit reference, and healthcare sectors, the scheme aims to make compliance with mainland data export rules simpler. About 100 organizations have joined, and the government plans to expand the scheme to more sectors.
Sun also addressed calls for more land to be allocated to data centers. He highlighted the need to consider the significant electricity requirements of such facilities.
Support from Industry Experts
Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, supported the government’s initiative to develop its own AI system. He suggested that while residents should not pay for general use of the application, frequent users could be charged to prevent abuse.
He also anticipated that the content generated by the government-developed program would align with official policy to ensure it is “politically correct,” given that all information used to create the model would come from government sources.
Also Read: OpenAI Hits Milestone: Clocks $3.4 Bn in Revenue from ChatGPT Subscriptions.
