Ministry of Justice admits to asking AI for policy ideas

 The Government department in charge of prisons has admitted to using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to “brainstorm ideas” for new policies.

Asked in the House of Commons whether the Ministry of Justice uses AI for policy-making, Justice Minister Jake Richards said: “The MoJ has rolled out general purpose AI tools like Microsoft Copilot across the department to enhance productivity and support the work of all staff, including policy professionals. 

“AI is being used to assist the policy-making process with tasks like brainstorming ideas, clarifying drafting, and searching for publicly-available information. The Department encourages officials to always cross-validate the outputs of AI rather than blindly trusting them, applying human judgement and oversight as appropriate.”

His statement on 20 April came in response to a question from Conservative MP John Hayes, who had asked Justice Secretary David Lammy whether the MoJ “has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting legislation and policy in the past 12 months”.

Mr Richards is thought to be the first UK Government minister to admit to using AI in policy-making. Business Secretary Peter Kyle has said he uses it for background research.

Even Science Secretary Liz Kendall, the Cabinet minister in charge of policy on AI, has said she does not use it for Government business – only in her personal life. In a BBC interview last month, she said the last time she had used it was to find out which face cream ingredient she was allergic to.