The new function allows the AI agent to carry out a series of tasks based on a single instruction, including preparing meeting minutes, summarising discussions and sharing the documents within government departments. The agency said it was the first time in the world that a government body had established an environment enabling the use of AI agents on such a scale.
Gennai offers around 40 applications designed to support government employees with their daily administrative work. These include tools for chatting with colleagues, preparing documents and meeting minutes, translating and summarising documents, searching previous parliamentary statements, researching laws and regulations, and transcribing audio files.
Previously, employees had to enter separate prompts for individual tasks. With the upgraded system, users can simply upload an audio recording of a meeting and have the AI agent automatically prepare and translate the meeting minutes without requiring an additional prompt.
The platform also includes an application designed to help government employees share their knowledge and professional expertise across departments.
For instance, experienced staff members can document their methods for preparing cabinet ministers’ answers to questions raised during parliamentary debates. This may include recording how a particular lawmaker tends to focus on data when questioning ministers, allowing colleagues to take such preferences into account while preparing responses.
The information will be made available to staff across government agencies and ministries through the Gennai Library system, which is scheduled to be launched in the future. The initiative is intended to make specialised knowledge accumulated by experienced employees accessible to a wider range of government personnel.
Digital Transformation Minister Toshiharu Furukawa highlighted the need for AI-assisted administrative work at a news conference on Tuesday last week.
“Many government tasks are complex and highly specialized, and require a large amount of documents,” Furukawa said. “We need an environment in which AI agents can be utilized to save labor and improve the quality of work.”
The upgrade marks a further step in Japan’s efforts to use generative AI in government operations, with the expanded Gennai platform combining multi-step task automation with tools for sharing institutional knowledge across ministries and agencies.
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