The reason GovGPT attracted a lot of attention this week is that many Kiwis have a frustrating time dealing with government agencies. It’s part of the reason why Judith Collins, who launched GovGPT at the AI Summit this week, created the digitising government ministerial portfolio. She wants to see a customer service revolution in government and sees AI as being central to that.

The tendency of people to forget they are engaging with AI social technologies, and feeling as if they are “real”, raises concerns around unsustainable or unhealthy attachments.

As more data is fed into AI-powered searches and chatbots, they may become more accurate. Until then, however, users should be careful about the reliability or independence of information sourced this way.

With one in four people around the world reporting being lonely, it is no wonder so many are drawn to the promise of a friend programmed to be “always here to listen and talk, always on your side”.

As more people look to take advantage of AI tools, there is a high likelihood that personal and confidential corporate information will be shared.