Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the (i) use; and (ii) development, by (a) her Department; and (b) its arm’s-length bodies, of Artificial Intelligence products.
Minister for Infrastructure: The Department for Infrastructure has made available Microsoft Copilot Chat, an enterprise level secure AI assistant, to all staff and a more advanced separately licensed Microsoft Copilot for 365 AI assistant as a pilot for some senior staff.
The Department has also commenced several proof of concept exercises using AI Chatbot technology using departmental data and information to train the AI Chatbots to assist staff in responding to queries or providing advice. Evaluation of these exercises are ongoing. Driver and Vehicle Agency are currently trialling an AI solution to capture, record and analyse customer queries.
The Department is also working closely with other areas of the NICS to develop NICS wide uses for AI to deliver economies of scale and shared learning in this area.
Within Arm’s Length Bodies, NI Water and Translink have also deployed Microsoft Copilot and are using commercial off the shelf products such as chatbots, cyber security tools and data analytics solutions that have embedded AI functions. Waterways Ireland does not currently use AI tools but is expecting to start a deployment in 2026.
ENDS
Your MLA 