AI-drafted complaints are adding to UK public bodies’ workload, reports say

People are using AI chatbots to draft complaints to UK public bodies, and caseworkers say the submissions can be longer and more complex. That may make it easier for people to be heard, but it also adds pressure to already stretched services.

Watch Desk analysis

What happened

Resultsense says The Independent reported on 25 October that police forces, schools and councils are dealing with complaints that are often lengthy, inaccurate or padded with legal-sounding language. Caseworkers in MPs’ offices told the paper that roughly half their cases now involve AI in at least some of the drafting. The Local Government Association’s Richard Clewer said complaints were becoming “longer and more complex”, increasing administrative burdens.

The account also describes a real benefit: journalist Sam Freedman said AI can help people who previously struggled to put a complaint into words. Consumer campaigner Helen Dewdney said chatbots can get important details wrong. In one test, a broadband complaint pointed to Ofcom rather than the relevant dispute-resolution scheme; another referred to an ombudsman that did not exist.

Why it matters

This is not simply a case of more paperwork arriving at a council inbox. AI may lower the barrier to making a complaint, which can help people explain a genuine problem. But errors and extra volume can consume staff time and delay responses for everyone, including people with strong cases.

The Independent’s account, as summarised by Resultsense, says councils are considering whether government action may be needed to keep complaint processes workable. It does not establish that AI-drafted complaints are generally frivolous, or quantify how much additional workload they create.

Our read

Making a complaint easier to write is useful. Making a wrong complaint sound like it came with a legal team is less so. Public bodies need to assess what is being claimed, not dismiss a submission because a chatbot helped draft it. People using AI can help their case by checking names, facts and the correct route before pressing send.

What to watch

• Whether councils or government propose changes to complaint-handling rules.
• Whether public bodies publish evidence on complaint volumes, errors and delays.
• Whether guidance helps people check AI-drafted complaints without making the process harder for those who need it.

Discussion spark: Should public bodies change how they handle complaints as AI makes them easier to write, or would that risk shutting out people who need help making their case?

Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.