State health department bans doctors from using generative AI such as ChatGPT
SA Health's ban applies to all generative or open-source AI.
SA Health has banned all staff from using generative and open-source AI software, pending an evaluation of the risks, its chief executive says.
The ban, implemented in November 2024, applies to generative AI, which creates new content based on patterns and includes the large language models (LLMs) that specifically produce human-like text, like ChatGPT.
“This step has been taken to ensure patient information is not available via open-source AI and to protect our clinical staff from information being inadvertently released,” said SA Health chief executive Dr Robyn Lawrence in a statement.
Open source means the computer code is freely available, allowing anybody to access, modify or use it — hence the privacy and security concerns.
