UK government to trial ‘red box’ AI tools to improve ministerial efficiency

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UK ministers are piloting the use of generative artificial intelligence to analyse responses to government consultations and write draft answers to parliamentary questions.

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, will on Thursday unveil tools that the AI “crack squad” at the heart of Whitehall is trialling with a view to wider rollouts across central departments and public services.

It forms part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s drive to boost Whitehall productivity through technology, including AI, when tight public finances are limiting ministers’ ability to improve public services with more cash.

The AI tools include using government-hosted versions of ChatGPT and a mix of open-source AI models securely hosted in-house to draft preliminary responses to questions to ministers submitted by MPs and to freedom of information requests.

The drafts would always be checked by a human civil servant and the AI tools are programmed to ensure they cite their sources on all claims, so they can be verified.

The AI “red box” tool, a reference to the way it may help members of the government complete the work in their ministerial red boxes, is able to grab and condense information from official sources, such as Hansard, the parliamentary record, or government speeches.

In a briefing ahead of his speech, Dowden said AI would not be appropriate in “novel or contentious or highly politically sensitive areas” but could work well in assisting with “routine” policy tasks.

A new AI tool is also being piloted to read, summarise and triage the response to public consultations, which typically require 25 civil servants three months to process.

Ministers launch about 700 consultations a year and a recent state consultation on the smoking ban elicited thousands of pages of responses, equivalent in length to 400 times the Brexit agreement.

Speaking…