The current government in the United Kingdom encourages the use of smart technology to perform tasks typically carried out by civil servants, such as drafting responses to inquiries from Parliament.
UK ministers are experimenting with modern technologies to analyze responses to government consultations and draft answers to parliamentary questions.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to unveil the technologies being tested by the artificial intelligence team for widespread implementation in central administrations and public services.
These tools are capable of gathering and summarizing information from reliable sources, such as the Parliament records.
This comes as part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s campaign to increase government productivity through reliance on technology, especially when financial resources are limited and constrain ministers’ ability to enhance public services by allocating more funds.
Artificial intelligence tools include the use of hosted versions of ChatGPT by the government and a variety of open-source artificial intelligence models to prepare preliminary responses to questions directed at ministers by MPs and Freedom of Information requests.
A civil servant carefully reviews the drafts and utilizes artificial intelligence tools to ensure that all information is based on reliable sources.
There is also a separate tool being tested that works in the same way but targets individuals’ responses to public consultations.
It is unclear when the artificial intelligence tool for this work will be rapidly implemented, despite Dowden stating it will take three months with 25 government employees.
The Telegraph newspaper reported that Dowden emphasized the importance of applying artificial intelligence technology to reduce the number of civil service jobs.
Dowden said: “I believe this is the only way if we want to sustainably reduce the number of employees. The civil service has grown due to the pandemic and preparations for leaving the European Union, and we need to use technology to reduce numbers.”
Dowden’s statements align with Rishi Sunak’s ambitions to leverage modern technology to increase government productivity.
Dowden confirmed that the government will not use new technology in controversial or politically sensitive areas.
Meanwhile, the AI department in the Cabinet Office is set to expand from 30 employees to 70 and receive a new budget of £110 million (around $139.1 million), up from £5 million (around $6.3 million).
