A new AI tool being developed to help government workers analyze public feedback has done well in its first major trial. The tool, called Consult, is part of a set of AI tools for civil servants introduced earlier this year by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Some parts of this AI system are already in use.
Consult was tested on responses to a Scottish Government consultation about rules for non-surgical cosmetic treatments, like lip fillers and laser hair removal. The AI was asked to find common themes in answers to six open-ended questions. It grouped responses by topic, saving officials time so they could focus on understanding the feedback and its policy impacts.
Since this was Consult’s first real test, Scottish Government staff also checked all 2,000 responses by hand. DSIT said the AI and human reviewers mostly agreed on the key themes, and any differences did not change the overall results.
The UK government runs about 500 consultations each year, taking up around 75,000 days of staff time. Using Consult for all of them could save £20 million per year in staff costs.
Source: publictechnology
