Quebec has abandoned initiatives related to automation and artificial intelligence (AI) within the public sector—including the implementation of a chatbot on the government website “Quebec.ca”—following pilot projects that encountered “significant challenges.”
A document recently obtained by La Presse Canadienne under the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information reveals that three pilot projects led by the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital Affairs (MCN) and its Quebec Center of Digital Excellence encountered several issues and obstacles.
In February 2024, Éric Caire, then the minister responsible for the MCN, announced at a press conference that prototypes would be tested to reduce the processing time for civil servants’ insurance forms and the billing process through automation.
He also indicated that a chatbot using generative AI would be tested on the “Données Québec” portal to improve access to the datasets available on the site.
A few months later, a briefing note addressed to the MCN’s deputy minister provided an update on these trials.
The chatbot project “encountered several technical challenges regarding the fluidity of conversations, the handling of complex queries and errors, as well as latency,” the document, dated November 2024, states.
The memo also mentions issues concerning AI solutions available on the market. These tools “are not yet mature and are evolving rapidly.”
“They only facilitate the rapid development of generic chatbots. All complex and specific operations require additional development (which is more complex with open-source technologies),” the report adds.
Nevertheless, the report concluded that this “experiment provided valuable lessons” and outlined further steps for the development of a government chatbot. The plan is to draft a feasibility study and a business case in 2025, and to deploy an initial version of a chatbot on “Quebec.ca”—which brings together various government services—in December 2026.
However, the MCN confirmed to La Presse Canadienne that this deployment will not take place at the end of the year. “The chatbot project on the Quebec.ca website has been scrapped,” said a ministry spokesperson.
She added that no new timeline has been set and that the preparation of the feasibility and business cases never materialized either, as the project “was not prioritized.”
Automation projects
The other two pilot projects aimed at automating processes within the civil service were not successful and did not lead to implementation.
“These projects were abandoned due to the challenges encountered, as outlined in the (memo to the deputy minister), but also because of the availability of new technologies,” the MCN explained in an email.
The chosen solution—a Microsoft tool described as “easy to use”—“showed promise.” However, “numerous challenges” were identified, such as “difficult” access to data, features that were “restricted for security reasons,” and a level of internal expertise that was “too low to identify alternatives.”
Furthermore, at least one of the processes was “not sufficiently optimized for robotic automation,” and the MCN “had not reached the maturity required to deploy automated workflows in its administrative processes,” the report states.
The note concludes that the three initiatives “faced significant challenges, which are understandable in the context of emerging technologies.” Nevertheless, “they yielded tangible results, such as the development of promising prototypes and the establishment of a solid foundation for future initiatives,” the note continues.
“Digitizing the mess”
The MCN’s decision to abandon these projects was “wise,” according to Stéfanie Vallée, a doctoral student researching sustainable digital transformation at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.
“This is evidence of sound management. I think that, in this case, there are people at the MCN who are conscientious about using public funds wisely. At the same time, we’ve gained knowledge, which is excellent. What do we do with it next? We mustn’t stop there,” she says.
Nevertheless, it is not surprising that these experiments have not borne fruit given the current state of affairs, according to the specialist from the Canada Research Chair in Technology, Sustainability, and Society. Quebec is lagging behind in terms of digital transformation.
According to Vallée, “State 5.0 has not yet been fully thought through,” at least at the time of the pilot projects. She raises an issue regarding data management.
“We haven’t thought through the data infrastructure that would allow us to use artificial intelligence optimally and in a shared manner,” she says. “In digital transformation, you can’t digitize—so to speak—chaos. It all starts with structuring the data.
“When our data isn’t structured, it’s hard to get anywhere. But they tried, and it’s good to try. When we see that we’ve reached the limits of our resources under the current circumstances, that we don’t have the tools to do it, we have to stop,” adds Vallée.
She believes that the Quebec government is counting on “people capable of figuring out the right steps to take,” but that these individuals “need support” in the face of the new technological reality. This involves, in particular, creating new positions or reorganizing resources.
Nevertheless, these experiments by the MCN were “entirely legitimate, because sometimes we have to move forward to realize what we’re missing,” says the expert. She believes these pilot projects have likely sparked reflection since then.
Last December, the MCN adopted a framework on the use of generative AI by public agencies. Among other things, it covers data protection, staff training, and the criteria to consider when selecting use cases for this technology, in addition to control measures.
Last month, the Quebec government announced that it had partnered with the Canadian company Cohere and the French company Mistral to explore opportunities for integrating AI into the public service and improving government efficiency.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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