The city of Yokosuka, located in the Kanagawa Prefecture, has recently announced a one-month trial of a new technology within its 4,000 municipal employees – the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. This trial is part of their aim to use helpful Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools such as ChatGPT to help cope with the challenges of population decline, enabling their limited human resources to complete tasks on an individual level.
One of the new initiatives by Yokosuka city, the ChatGPT AI chatbot is able to perform automated tasks like summarising documents, checking for spelling errors, and developing creative ideas. According to Takayuki Samukawa, a public relations representative for Yokosuka’s digital management department, this technology has the potential to assist them in the task of ‘freeing up’ their human workforce.
OpenAI, the US firm that makes the ChatGPT AI chatbot, is aware of the concerns revolving around the mass collecting and storage of personal data for the purpose of training the algorithms and therefore, have implemented measures to ensure that their chatbot remains GDPR compliant. Despite the fears of data privacy, Yokosuka City has seen the potential of the ChatGPT as a helpful ICT tool and will continue their one month trial.
OpenAI is a US based firm that focuses on artificial intelligence research, aiming to offer the highest quality of AI services and products. They are the team behind the popular ChatGPT AI chatbot which has been used by numerous institutions worldwide, ranging from government organisations to educational institutions. However, recently Italy has taken the stance to temporarily ban OpenAI’s ChatGPT due to worries surrounding data privacy.
Takayuki Samukawa is the public relations representative for Yokosuka’s digital management department, working to promote the city’s adoption of the new ICT tools such as the ChatGPT AI chatbot. His role involves communicating with the public, managing media releases and explaining Yokosuka city’s decisions whether they relate to ChatGPT or not. Through his role, he plays a great part in helping Yokosuka city become digitalised and adapting to the changes of the population.
