A new AI tool built by the UK government as part of its Humphrey suite, known as Consult, has been trialed for the first time on a live consultation hosted by the Scottish government.
The tool was used to summarise what the public told the government in response to a consultation on how to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as lip fillers and laser hair removal.
The tool is now set to be used across departments in a bid to cut down the millions spent on the current process, which often includes outsourcing analysis to contractors.
Reviewing comments from over 2,000 consultation responses using generative AI, Consult identified key themes that feedback fell into across each of six qualitative questions.
These themes were checked and refined by experts in the Scottish government and the AI tool then sorted individual responses into themes, giving officials more time to delve into the detail and evaluate the policy implications of feedback received.
The Humphrey suite is a bundle of AI tools designed to speed up the work of civil servants, cut back time spent on admin, and money spent on contractors.
It forms part of the government’s plan to make better use of technology across public services, in a bid to target the £45bn in productivity savings that it offers while creating a more agile state that can more effectively deliver Labour’s Plan for Change.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “No one should be wasting time on something AI can do quicker and better, let alone wasting millions of taxpayer pounds on outsourcing such work to contractors.
“After demonstrating such promising results, Humphrey will help us cut the costs of governing and make it easier to collect and comprehensively review what experts and the public are telling us on a range of crucial issues.”
The Scottish government’s public health minister Jenni Minto explained how the tool assisted on several fronts. “Using the tool was very beneficial in helping the Scottish government understand more quickly what people wanted us to hear and our respondents’ range of views,” she said.
“Officials were reassured through the process that the AI was doing a good job, supporting us to undertake the analysis that will inform our next steps.
“Using this tool has allowed the Scottish government to move more quickly to a focus on the policy questions and dive into the detail of the evidence we have been presented with, while remaining confident that we have heard the strong views expressed by respondents.”
While these early results are promising, ‘Consult’ is still currently in trial. More evaluation covering the accuracy and efficiency of the tool will take place to ensure it is working properly ahead of final rollout decisions.
Across the 500 consultations the government runs annually, the tool could help save officials from around 75,000 days of analysis every year, which costs the government £20 million in staffing costs.
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