NSW Police is in the early stages of establishing an Artificial Intelligence Center to oversee all aspects of the technology’s implementation.
The center, which will be based in Parramatta and housed within the military’s Technical and Communications Services Command, is recruiting for its first manager.
According to the job description, managers have a wide range of powers, from defining and enforcing internal governance and risk thresholds to monitoring vendors.
There was a particular focus on governance, with the Center’s initial focus training on alignment with the New South Wales Government’s revised Artificial Intelligence Assessment Framework (AIAF).
The AIAF is intended to ensure that AI systems used by state agencies are “designed, developed, procured and used in a safe, ethical and responsible manner,” according to the state AI Office.
The framework was recently updated to allow agencies to automatically designate low, medium, or high risk based on their answers to questions, rather than having them self-assess the level of risk associated with the use of AI.
The AI Center’s management description states that it will “lead the review of AIAF’s risk assessments and collaborate with privacy, security, ethics, legal, records, data, and AI experts to advance the safe and responsible use of AI for the future,” and “oversee the record-keeping of decisions related to risk management of AI solutions to ensure the outcomes of AIAF supported applications and ensure risk mitigation.”
More broadly, the center aims to create force-wide capability improvements in AI risk management.
It also has a stated responsibility to “oversee the development of AI systems” and “oversee vendor and third-party AI solutions” employed by the New South Wales Police Force.
In a post on LinkedIn, NSW Police CTO Susie Mann wrote that the centre’s administrators, and the establishment of the center more broadly, “underscores the importance of a disciplined, transparent and responsible approach to AI in mission-critical public sector environments”.
Considering the initial situation, iT News It was not possible to know exactly how the center would be resourced in terms of planned staffing levels and whether there was a specific budget allocation.
a spokesperson said iT News The manager will “lead the development of NSW Police policy and strategy on AI”, which will include “identifying the positions and structures needed to enable AI”. [Force] This is to adapt to the rapidly evolving AI environment. ”
The spokesperson added that responsibility for the governance and management of AI “currently resides with senior leadership positions within the New South Wales Police Force”, which could indicate these are due to be transferred to the centre.
The New South Wales Police Service has indicated on its website that it has a wide range of interests in how AI can support police operations.
This includes “how generative artificial intelligence technologies can be integrated into police operations” such as “automated processing of large amounts of data to identify suspect sketches, automated documentation and paperwork, relevant laws, procedures, case law, etc.”
It also includes “new ways in which artificial intelligence can be used to prevent/reduce crime.”
The latter in particular has drawn increased scrutiny from digital rights groups and government commissions in recent years, as it is often unclear how AI tools work and the extent to which embedded biases can influence police operations.
