Britain's latest civil servant is a chatbot trained on GOV.UK misery

"The UK government on Friday announced the launch of "GOV.UK Chat," a generative AI assistant bolted into the GOV.UK app and trained on tens of thousands of pages of official guidance that Whitehall is boldly pitching as the "most comprehensive government-built chat tool in the world.""

"Ministers say the system will help people navigate everything from maternity pay and retirement benefits to driving licenses and startup grants without having to dig through the bureaucratic swamp that is modern Britain. According to the government, some public sector call centers handle around 100,000 calls a day, which helps explain why ministers are suddenly very enthusiastic about citizens talking to software instead."

""For too long, navigating government has felt like a full-time job," she said. "Whether you're a parent trying to find out what childcare you're entitled to, a first-time buyer working out which schemes you can access, or someone approaching retirement, you shouldn't have to spend time trawling through hundreds of web pages to get a straight answer.""

"The rollout comes just months after polling showed plenty of Brits are already uneasy about AI spreading through public services. Concerns ranged from privacy and job losses to fears that dealing with the government will eventually mean getting stuck in an automated support maze when something important goes wrong."

GOV.UK Chat is a generative AI assistant built into the GOV.UK app and trained on tens of thousands of pages of official guidance. The government positions it as a comprehensive tool for helping people navigate public services such as maternity pay, retirement benefits, driving licenses, and startup grants. Ministers say it reduces the need to search through large amounts of online guidance and avoids long phone queues. The government notes that some call centers handle around 100,000 calls per day, which supports the push toward software-based support. The rollout follows polling showing public unease about AI in public services, including concerns about privacy, job losses, and being trapped in automated support when problems occur.

Read at theregister