Department of Health and Aged Care to tread carefully on generative AI

The Department of Health and Aged Care has said it will remain focussed on the agenda already established as it believes it will take around two years to see practical uses for generative AI.

Fay Flevaras, first assistant secretary of digital transformation and delivery at the Department of Health and Aged Care, said the department has the mindset to contend with the emerging technology. 

Speaking at a Salesforce World Tour 2024 in Sydney Flevaras said, “In aged care, we're pretty focused on the agenda we've got.”

“We didn't really have a huge amount of headspace to be going what does this mean for us, but it's definitely on the agenda so that we can say how does it fit in and where could we use it and should we use it?”

Flevaras added there is “definitely” much discussion around the technology adding “it'll be an evolutionary thing.”

“It'll take us a good 12 to 24 months to start evolving to making practical users.

“But you really need to find the think big, start small with the experimentation [and] really start to find those strategies and the principles and the guardrails that you want to make sure are front of mind as you're experimenting.”

This will ensure “you can then jump the wave and leapfrog to something new and more innovative.”