Under the leadership of the AI Efficacy Enhancement Team, the Digital Policy Office (DPO) is driving the digital intelligence transformation of the Government at full steam. By promoting "AI+ Civil Services" with ready-to-use AI tools, DPO strives to make the delivery of public services more efficient and more tailored to the needs of our citizens.

In the "AI Solution Catalogue"(https://www.smartlab.gov.hk/tc/ai-solution) established by DPO’s Smart Government Innovation Lab and on the newly launched "AI Toolbox" intranet thematic page, various AI tools are featured under six major categories of daily administrative scenarios, including customer service, data analysis and prediction, document drafting, image analysis and generation, meeting minutes, as well as research and information gathering. This comprehensive and versatile suite of tools will cover at least 100 public administration procedures within this year, serving as an all-round assistant to our civil service team.

Tasks that used to be time-consuming and labour-intensive can now often be completed one step ahead using AI tools: audio recordings of meetings spanning tens of minutes can be organised into complete meeting minutes in a moment; promotional infographics and illustrations can be generated with a single click; static images can be quickly converted into eye-catching short videos; and official speeches and press releases can be efficiently drafted with the use of AI. A number of bureaux/departments (B/Ds) have taken the lead in applying these tools, efficiently completing various promotional materials and official documents through AI tools such as image generation, presentation preparation, and text translation.

According to a survey conducted among colleagues, over 80% of the respondents agreed that AI tools significantly enhance work efficiency, giving very positive comments on the tools. The “AI Toolbox” will be extended to cover at least 200 public administration procedures by end-2027, integrating smart technologies into even more work scenarios.

Our AI assistants are continuously being enhanced. Currently used by over 40 000 civil servants, the AI tools developed by the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI), namely HKPilot, HKChat and HKMeeting, have been operated securely on the Government private cloud since July this year. This caters for the needs arising from processing of internal confidential information and the support required for confidential operations, striking a balance between convenience and security. The HKGAI tool suite will also undergo continuous upgrades with additional practical functions such as image generation and real-time speech-to-text conversion, and will offer a three-year free trial, thereby promoting the wider use of AI tools in the Government.

If you want to be more proficient in using AI, equipping yourselves with relevant up-to-date knowledge is the very first step. In collaboration with the Civil Service College (CSC), DPO has launched online AI training courses starting from the second quarter of this year. A total of around 30 short video modules are being progressively uploaded to the CSC’s Learning Management Portal (https://lmp.csc.gov.hk/lmp/tc/home). Tailored to various work scenarios, the curriculum covers the fundamentals of AI concepts, the operation of popular tools, case studies, project planning, ethics and security, as well as the latest trends, making it highly suitable for enrolment by civil servants of all ranks.

We will continue to enrich the content of the “AI Toolbox” and our training courses, enabling colleagues to enhance their AI skills and literacy in order to keep pace with the latest developments of digital intelligence. Together, let us support the Government in moving towards a new era of AI+ and digital intelligence.