Schleswig-Holstein plans to use ChatGPT in its administration, thanks to the green light given by Digitization Minister Dirk Schrödter according to the regulations of the IT Use Act. State data protection officer Marit Hansen does not veto this but insists that the administration must be built on a constitutional, legal, fair and just basis. ChatGPT will be used mainly for preparatory research for speeches, presentations of facts or notes.
Schrödter believes ChatGPT can accelerate the creation of overview documents, especially in regards to summarizing significant amounts of information. Still, the last content check needs to be carried out by the experts since the content generated by the system must be checked before being included in the state administration’s further work. Schrödter wants to ensure that the system is used not to “write any speeches without checking them politically or in terms of content before I deliver them,” but to offer additional valuable information.
Legal tech applications with ChatGPT in administrative procedures and specialist applications are not yet possible, but Schrödter sees it as an “extremely interesting” possibility. His goal is to extract the implicit knowledge that lies dormant in the files and information systems for administrative procedures, such as creating and updating topic-related dossiers. Nevertheless, the Schleswig-Holstein State Chancellery has not yet discussed any supervisory issues, including those relating to data protection.
In April 2023, the ULD together with other state commissioners for data protection began a regulatory review of ChatGPT. The State Chancellery is now tasked with answering questions about the basis for releasing ChatGPT. Among the key concerns is transparency about how Schrödter intends to achieve transparency in his use of ChatGPT for speeches and notes while ensuring accuracy, truthfulness, and completeness.
