The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), through its Artificial Intelligence Center (NIA), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) held a productive exchange of experiences on the Artificial Intelligence models adopted by both institutions from April 10^th to 15^th. 

The initiative, mediated by the Audit Department for Road Infrastructure and Civil Aviation (AudRodoviaAviação), focused on the ChatTCU solution and the IDB's implementation of a Generative AI on its MapaInversiones platform.  

Using AI for greater transparency and control 

MapaInversiones is a digital platform that promotes transparency and social control in public spending in Latin America and the Caribbean. Centrally focused on citizen participation, it enables real-time monitoring in public data. 

The IDB expressed interest in understanding the technical details of ChatTCU to gain insights for developing their own generative AI in MapaInversiones. 

"We are currently going through a similar process of developing a generative AI, still in its early stages, and we read many interesting things about ChatTCU, which caught our attention and sparked our interest in becoming more familiar with the tool," explained the coordinator of the MapaInversiones project at the IDB, Sebastian de Hoyo. 

The project, similar to ChatTCU, aims to use Large Language Models (LLM) to facilitate access to information. The idea is to allow citizens to directly interact with the data stored on MapaInversiones, eliminating the need for extensive analysis to interpret the information.  

Presentation on the progress of ChatTCU

NIA coordinator Eric Hans Messias made a presentation on the progress of ChatTCU. The solution is about to have its fourth version launched, bringing new features, such as consultation on the TCU's internal rules (resolutions, regulations, normative instructions, etc.), as well as one of the most requested features by users: the ability to upload documents for analysis.  

"The TCU has been experimenting with the use of AI for around 10 years. Several professionals in the Court already had expertise in the subject. We made use of our knowledge to create ChatTCU and refined it over time with extensive research and precise requirement definition. We started from Open AI's GPT model and, since its launch in April 2023, we have been improving the tool with more specific features for TCU users. Today, the solution is more integrated with our internal systems," Messias explained.   

The updated version of ChatTCU will be released on April 30th.  

Reliability and responsibility in usage 

The reliability of the answers generated by ChatTCU was a point of interest for the IDB. The NIA coordinator explained that although no generative AI model is guaranteed to be 100% accurate, various measures are taken to reduce the risks by improving the accuracy of the responses generated. Nevertheless, users are responsible for verifying the authenticity of all information from reliable external sources.

Prospections 

In addition to the ongoing development of resources, Chat TCU is also exploring more advanced functionalities. These include integration with Microsoft's Bing Copilot, the generation of queries in LabContas using natural language, and integration with other applications, such as Word, e-Controle, Pesquisa Integrada, and Sagas.  

Research is being conducted on decentralizing ChatTCU to develop specialized versions for specific Court departments, increasing response accuracy.

Digital transformation in the public service 

The collaboration between the TCU and the IDB represents an important step forward in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence-based solutions for the public service, strengthening the TCU's global position as a catalyst of digital evolution towards more efficient and transparent public management.