The Ministry of Economy and Finance will begin building its own artificial intelligence (AI) platform. This is to alleviate concerns about potential information leaks when using external AI search engines and to maximize work efficiency. However, there are also suggestions that it may not be necessary due to the anticipated similarities with the 'general-purpose AI system' being developed by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for use by all ministries, leading to concerns over 'duplicate investment.'
According to the government on the 21st, the Ministry of Economy and Finance started the work to establish an information strategy plan (ISP) for building a 'data platform' earlier this month. The ISP serves as a preliminary planning process conducted at the pre-construction stage of the information system, setting the goals and direction for the system's establishment. The main development work is expected to begin once the ISP work is completed in September.
The data platform will feature a generative AI system trained on data within the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It will serve as an AI search engine similar to ChatGPT. The aim is to automate simple and repetitive administrative tasks to reduce the workload for employees.
For instance, if inquiries regarding interpretations of tax laws or budget and finance issues are submitted, the AI system is expected to draft the interpretation based on the data accumulated within the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It is also anticipated to assist in gathering necessary data for responding to policy inquiries or questions regarding budget execution from the National Assembly.
An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance noted, 'Currently, we have requested each division to provide expected use cases to explore how to implement AI.' They added, 'We will compile these cases soon and select best practices to reflect in the ISP.'
The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the first government entity to actively adopt generative AI in its operations. Last month, it provided paid licenses for employees to use ChatGPT or Perplexity for tasks such as translation and data search.
However, there are limitations on the areas where government agencies can utilize external AI services. This is due to the 'network separation principle,' which fully separates internal work networks from external internet networks to prevent security incidents such as information leaks. The Ministry of Economy and Finance prohibits file attachments in AI models and has set many restricted words. As a result, employees cannot fully utilize AI functionalities.
Since the newly created data platform will build its own AI system, there are no such security issues. It is expected that efficiency will further increase as AI can be utilized in a wider range. The Ministry of Economy and Finance also plans to automate data-sharing functions targeted at other government agencies or public institutions.
Domestic information technology (IT) corporations are expected to be selected as partners for building the platform. An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, 'We are considering collaboration with companies that have commercialized generative AI models in South Korea, such as Naver,' adding, 'We expect to complete construction by the second half of next year.'
However, there are criticisms that the Ministry of Economy and Finance's data platform is expected to serve a similar role as the 'general-purpose AI platform' that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety started building last year, suggesting that there is duplicate investment among government ministries. The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to make the data platform compatible with the general-purpose AI platform.
A government official explained, 'The general-purpose AI platform is also expected to have functions that allow each ministry to utilize internal data,' stating, 'We are creating a common AI foundation excluding specialized agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Unification.'