On February 3, 2025, the New Zealand government released updated guidance to support the uptake of artificial intelligence technology across the government. The guidance, Responsible AI Guidance for the Public Service: GenAI, “enables agencies to explore and adopt Generative AI (GenAI) systems in ways that are safe, transparent and responsible, and which effectively balance risks with potential benefits of these systems.” It replaces interim guidance on using generative AI in the public service published in July 2023.
The guidance covers foundational matters, including governance and assurance; security; procurement; staff skills and capabilities; avoiding misinformation and hallucinations; and accountability and responsibility.
It also addresses “key considerations about GenAI systems that affect customer service experience with government.” These include ethics and transparency; using GenAI to create “fairness and equity instead of biases and discrimination”; accessibility for disabled people; privacy; and an understanding of the perspectives of the Maori and Pacific peoples communities.
New Zealand’s Approach to Regulating AI
In June 2024, the New Zealand Cabinet agreed that “New Zealand will take a proportionate and risk-based approach to AI regulation where needed, using agile approaches, and leveraging existing mechanisms in preference to developing a standalone AI Act.” This includes promoting the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) AI Principles, which were adopted in 2024, as a key part of New Zealand’s approach to AI.
The new GenAI guidance sits below the Public Service AI Framework, which was released in January 2025. The framework falls under the National AI Strategy, which is currently in development. The framework and new generative AI guidance incorporate the AI Principles.
The new resource is part of a broader suite of responsible AI guidance for the public service being developed by the Government Chief Digital Officer. It also connects with separate guidance on responsible AI for business being drafted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Kelly Buchanan, Law Library of Congress
May 15, 2025
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