Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what guidance his Department has issued to public sector organisations on storing data generated by (a) AI and (b) large language models.

The Government Digital Service in DSIT has issued an AI playbook (available on gov.uk) which gives departments advice on governing their use of AI, including large language models (LLMs). The ‘Data Protection and Privacy’ section in the AI playbook sets out data protection principles relevant to the use of AI, including ‘storage limitation’.

The use of AI and Large Language Models for government business engages the department’s record’s management responsibilities and will be managed in accordance with the Code of Practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Whether such information is retained and the period for which it is retained will vary depending on the technology used.