The froth surrounding Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot is undeniable. These powerful large language models (LLMs) can create realistic text, translate languages, and even write different kinds of creative content. But for highly regulated industries — think shipping, healthcare, or government — the excitement comes with a healthy dose of caution.
California’s Executive Order N-12-23 provides a valuable framework for navigating this complex landscape. It acknowledges the immense potential of GenAI while emphasizing responsible use. The EO’s directives — procurement guidelines, high-risk use inventories, pilot project sandboxes, and government worker training — all point toward a measured approach.
California’s Executive Order N-12-23: Breaking Down the Directives & Their Implications
Let’s dive deeper into how the directives in the EO can translate into concrete actions within high-compliance industries.
Procurement Guidelines: These guidelines ensure responsible acquisition of GenAI tools. In healthcare, for instance, procurement guidelines could mandate that hospitals only acquire AI-powered medical diagnostics that are FDA-approved. This ensures adherence to patient safety regulations. Similarly, in the U.S. public sector, procurement guidelines could emphasize data security and privacy when acquiring AI for public service applications.
High-Risk Use Inventories: These inventories help identify situations where GenAI use poses significant risks. For example, a high-risk use inventory in the shipping industry might highlight autonomous ship navigation as a high-risk area. Extensive testing in pilot project sandboxes would be mandatory before real-world implementation. Similarly, in healthcare, high-risk use inventories might highlight AI for personalized drug dosages. Careful evaluation and sandbox testing would be crucial to ensure patient safety and efficacy.
Pilot Project Sandboxes: These sandboxes allow controlled experimentation with GenAI in low-risk environments. This allows regulated entities to test functionalities, identify potential issues, and refine their GenAI strategy. The U.S. public sector could use sandboxes to test AI-powered chatbots for citizen inquiries. This would allow for evaluation of effectiveness and identification of any potential biases before deploying the technology at scale.
Government Worker Training: Training government workers on responsible GenAI use is critical. This training could cover topics like bias detection in AI outputs, understanding limitations of GenAI, and legal and ethical considerations. In healthcare, for instance, training would equip healthcare workers to identify patient bias in AI-driven decisions. This ensures that medical professionals maintain a human-centric approach while leveraging the power of AI.
Challenges and Opportunities in a Regulated Landscape
Highly regulated industries share a common set of challenges when it comes to GenAI adoption. Let’s take a closer look:
- Safety and Security: From ensuring safe maritime routes to protecting patient health data, safety is paramount. GenAI outputs must be thoroughly vetted to mitigate bias and ensure accuracy in critical decision-making.
- Transparency and Explainability: Public trust is essential in government, healthcare, and other regulated sectors. GenAI models need to be transparent, allowing users to understand how they arrive at their outputs.
- Compliance and Governance: Existing regulations need to be considered when deploying GenAI. Frameworks like NIST’s AI RMF provide guidance, and robust governance processes ensure responsible use within legal boundaries.
These challenges are outweighed by the immense opportunities GenAI offers:
- Enhanced Efficiency: GenAI can automate routine tasks, freeing up human expertise for higher-level analysis and decision-making.
- Improved Insights: GenAI can analyze vast amounts of data, uncovering hidden patterns and generating valuable insights across various sectors.
- Innovation and Personalization: GenAI unlocks new possibilities for innovation, from personalized healthcare to more efficient government services.
By navigating the challenges and embracing the opportunities, highly regulated industries can leverage GenAI to achieve significant advancements. It’s here that leveraging a suite of solutions, like those built by Atlassian — a trusted company with guardrails in place — can help high-compliance industries adopt GenAI technology, use it to maximum advantage and, most importantly, use it responsibly and safely.
Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI in Regulated Industries:
A Cautious and Collaborative Approach
The opportunities presented by Generative AI (GenAI) are vast for highly regulated industries. From automating tasks to gleaning deeper insights from data, GenAI can revolutionize the way these sectors operate. However, responsible adoption is paramount; ensuring safety, transparency, and compliance requires a thoughtful and collaborative approach.
This is where Atlassian shines. Its suite of tools fosters seamless collaboration across teams, empowering organizations to navigate the GenAI landscape effectively. Let’s delve into the ways Atlassian equips you to harness the power of GenAI while prioritizing responsible use.
Keeping Teams Aligned: Collaboration is King
Atlassian products excel at fostering collaboration within and across teams of all sizes. This is crucial for managing GenAI effectively. Here’s how:
- Confluence: Your Policy and Playbook Hub
Create and maintain clear guidelines for GenAI use and deployment within Confluence. This central repository offers easy access to policies, procedures, and playbooks, with version control ensuring everyone stays on the same page, even as best practices evolve. - Inventorying Use Cases with Jira Service Management
Leverage Jira Service Management’s asset management capabilities to track GenAI use cases. Score use cases based on pre-defined criteria using custom fields. Create tickets for follow-up and evaluation, ensuring each use case is thoroughly assessed. - Learning from the Field
Atlassian understands the importance of capturing insights from all stakeholders. The Jira Service Management customer portal allows you to collect usage data and feedback directly from those interacting with GenAI tools.
Pilot Projects & Sandboxes: Learning from Controlled Environments
Effective pilot projects and sandboxes require enterprise-wide visibility. Atlassian provides the tools to achieve this:
- Atlas: Sharing Across Teams
Use Atlas for horizontal information sharing across departments. Disseminate pilot project goals, approaches, and outcomes, ensuring lessons learned translate into improved GenAI adoption. - Connecting Strategy to Execution
Align individual project goals with top-level strategic objectives using Jira Align. This fosters a unified approach to GenAI implementation across the organization. - Confluence: Capturing Knowledge, Sharing Success
Leverage Confluence to document pilot project learnings and disseminate final reports and outcomes. This centralized knowledge base helps future projects build upon past successes.
The Power of Built-In AI
Atlassian products themselves leverage AI, offering a familiar and trusted environment for GenAI exploration. The benefit? Built-in guardrails ensure responsible use.
From smart suggestions in Jira to AI-powered summaries in Confluence, Atlassian provides a range of AI features designed to augment human expertise. These tools operate within a framework of trust and safety, fostering responsible innovation.
Effective GenAI implementation goes beyond tools. Consider these additional elements:
- Incident Management: Things will go wrong. Leverage Atlassian tools for incident management. JSM tickets, Confluence documentation, and Jira Align can be used to collaboratively develop incident response plans and track resolutions.
- Prompt Repositories: Prompt development is crucial for GenAI success. Capture and store prompts in Confluence or Bitbucket, ensuring consistency and knowledge sharing across teams.
- Governance & Risk Management: The California EO mandates leveraging frameworks like NIST’s AI RMF. JSM Assets helps manage risks, ensuring alignment with chosen frameworks and facilitating regular reviews with robust reporting.
The Future of GenAI: Responsibility is Key
GenAI presents a generational opportunity, but responsible adoption is key. Atlassian, alongside partners like Oxalis, can help you navigate this exciting landscape. Whether you require specific tools, a comprehensive governance framework, or assistance with change management, Oxalis can guide you from strategy to implementation. Following frameworks like California’s EO and leveraging solutions like Atlassian’s suite of products, as well as the experience and guidance of Oxalis, will enable responsible adoption, maximizing the potential of GenAI while safeguarding public trust.
Remember, the “gates are open,” but let’s walk through them thoughtfully, together.
