Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

The drafting of primary and secondary legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices.

While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of Government legislation. It is Parliament’s responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary.

We have an internal operational framework in place for all NIO staff. While this a practical guide, it mandates that all AI use must align with the Civil Service Code and NIO’s security and data protection policies. This framework enforces strategic principles by referencing the UK Government’s AI Playbook and strictly restricting AI from making any final decisions that affect people, ensuring human control. All use of AI in the NIO must be checked by a human, including when used to support the development of policy.