The Use of Language Models (LLMs) in the Public Sector and The Impact on Public Records: A Case of Sweden and Croatia
L’USO DEI MODELLI LINGUISTICI (LLM) NEL SETTORE PUBBLICO E L’IMPATTO SUI REGISTRIPUBBLICI: UN CASO DI SVEZIA E CROAZIA
UPORABA JEZIKOVNIH MODELOV (LLM) V JAVNEM SEKTORJU IN VPLIV NA JAVNE EVIDENCE: PRIMER ŠVEDSKE IN HRVAŠKE
Résumé
Purpose: This study is part of a bigger study being conducted under the auspices of the InterPARES project (https://interparestrustai.org/). Its purpose is to investigate the use of large language models (LLMs) in the public sector and the impact they have on the management of public records. The investigation was conducted in a Swedish and Croatian research settings. LLMs rely on substantial amounts of data from the Internet that might include a risk of generating inaccu-rate responses and biases. Since LLMs are used in decision-making processes, it is crucial that the records that derive are identified and managed for account-ability and transparency purposes. The questions therefore records managers and archivists should be asking during the implementation of LLMs in government administrations is what type of critical public records can be identified in processes where they have been deployed and additionally, in case of wrong responses, how can transparency and accountability be maintained? Method/approach: The authors have applied a case study method, interviews, and literature review to the investigation. Results: The results reveal that despite the current deployment of LLMs in the public sector, little attention is paid to the identification and capture of public records. The focus is mostly put on the efficiencies that the LLMs are to bring, through the claimed lessened administrative burdens. Further the testing that was done of a chatbot demonstrated the challenges associated with ensuring the reliability and accuracy of information generated by LLMs. Conclusions/findings: It is through the public records that the transparency of processes where the LLMs are being deployed can be maintained and where things go wrong, those accountable can be held responsible. Despite the many opportunities that the LLMs are providing, it is equally of paramount importance to understand record making amidst the deployment of LLMs in government administrations.