The cabinet has agreed on new rules with municipalities, provinces, water boards, and implementing organizations regarding the use of generative AI. Civil servants are given more room to use generative AI in their work, for example, to expedite permit applications, answer questions from citizens and entrepreneurs more quickly, or to make decisions more efficiently. However, they must adhere to certain conditions.

The position emphasizes the necessity of collaboration with all administrators and employees of government organizations, clear risk analyses, and the use of reliable generative AI models. It encourages the use of applications developed in Europe and open-source solutions.

“Generative AI offers ample opportunities to address societal issues and improve government services. Think of simplifying administrative processes, enhancing data analysis, and improving communication,” said Zsolt Szabo, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Kingdom Relations. “Employees must learn to handle AI literacy through training and collaboration between disciplines such as legal experts, data specialists, and developers. Additionally, we encourage collaboration within the government and with companies and researchers to share knowledge and best practices.”

Experimenting with AI
Within the frameworks for responsible and safe use, government agencies are experimenting and have initiated numerous initiatives in the field of generative AI:

• In the Province of South Holland, the PZH assistant is being used. This assistant has been developed as a safe alternative to ChatGPT and similar chatbots and is only available to civil servants of the Province of South Holland. The assistant has no direct impact on businesses and citizens, as it is primarily used internally.
• Another practical example is the Chatbot Guus at the Municipality of Goes. Chatbot Guus answers questions posed by citizens. The chatbot uses only pre-defined sources, such as URLs from goes.nl. This initiative contributes to making the service more accessible and better aligned with the living environment of people in the Netherlands.

Collaborating as a government

The position has been established through active collaboration between all levels of government, coordinated by the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). This collaboration fits within the broader Dutch Digitalization Strategy (NDS) for the entire government, which will be sent to the House of Representatives in the spring. Additionally, a guide has been developed to practically support government professionals from all levels in implementing generative AI in daily (work) practice. These are the first rules for AI that apply to the entire government.