The Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Report presents an initial analysis of the potential benefits and risks to individuals, communities, government, and California state government workers.

GenAI builds on conventional AI advances and uses large quantities of data to output unique written, audio, and/or visual content in response to free-form text requests from its users and programmers. GenAI tools can produce entirely new content instead of simply regurgitating inputted data. Unlike conventional AI systems designed for specific tasks, GenAI models are designed to be flexible and multifunctional.

GenAI products, such as ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Bard, are already available as standalone applications. Rapid integration is underway into other consumer-facing technology products, such as website chatbots.

Acknowledging GenAI presents new and unique risks that future updates will address, California has identified potential use cases and risks through literature research and stakeholder feedback. The unique threats of novel GenAI capabilities require augmented governance for the added exposure between conventional AI and GenAI.