An AI tool aims to wade through mountains of government feedback and understand what the public is trying to say.
UK 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.
This digital assistant, aptly named ‘Consult’, just aced its first big test with the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Gov threw Consult in at the deep end, asking it to make sense of public opinion on regulating non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as lip fillers and laser hair removal. Consult came back with findings almost identical to what human officials had pieced together.
Now, the plan is to roll this tech out across various government departments. The current way of doing things is expensive and slow. Millions of pounds often go to outside contractors just to analyse what the public thinks.
Consult is part of a bigger push to build a leaner, more responsive UK government—one that can deliver on its ‘Plan for Change’ without breaking the bank or taking an age to do it.
So, how did it fare in Scotland? Consult chewed through responses from over 2,000 people. Using generative AI, it picked out the main themes and concerns bubbling up from the feedback across six key questions.
Of course, Consult wasn’t left completely to its own devices. Experts in the Scottish Government double-checked and fine-tuned these initial themes. Then, the AI got back to work to sort individual responses into these categories. Officials ended up with more precious time to consider what people were saying and what it meant for policy.
Because this was Consult’s first live outing, the Scottish Government went through every single response by hand too—just to be sure. Figuring out exactly what someone means in a written comment and then deciding which ‘theme’ it fits under can be a bit subjective. Even humans don’t always agree.
When the government compared Consult’s handiwork to human analysis, the AI was right most of the time. Where there were differences, they were so minor they didn’t change the overall picture of what mattered most to people.
Consult is part of a bigger AI toolkit called ‘Humphrey’—a suite of digital helpers designed to free up civil servants from admin and cut down on those contractor bills. It’s all part of a grander vision to use technology to sharpen up public services, aiming to find £45 billion in productivity savings. The goal is a more nimble government that is better at delivering that ‘Plan for Change’ we keep hearing about.
“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,” added Kyle.
“The Scottish Government has taken a bold first step. Very soon, I’ll be using Consult, within Humphrey, in my own department and others in Whitehall will be using it too – speeding up our work to deliver the Plan for Change.”
Over in Scotland, Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “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.
“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’ve been presented with, while remaining confident that we have heard the strong views expressed by respondents.”
Of course, like many AI deployments in government, it’s still early days, and Consult is officially still in the trial phase. More number-crunching and testing are on the cards to make sure it’s working just as it should before any big decisions about a full rollout are made.
But the potential here is huge. The government runs about 500 consultations every year. If Consult lives up to its promise, it could save officials a staggering 75,000 days of analysis annually.
And what did the civil servants who first worked with Consult think? They were reportedly “pleasantly surprised,” finding the AI’s initial analysis a “useful starting point.” Others raved that it “saved [them] a heck of a lot of time” and let them “get to the analysis and draw out what’s needed next” much faster.
Interestingly, they also felt Consult brought a new level of fairness to the table. As one official put it, its use “takes away the bias and makes it more consistent,” preventing individual analysts from, perhaps unconsciously, letting their “own preconceived ideas” colour the findings.
Some consultations receive tens, even hundreds of thousands of responses. Given how well Consult has performed in these early tests, it won’t be long before it’s used on these massive consultations.
It’s worth noting that humans aren’t being kicked out of the loop. Consult has been built to keep the experts involved every step of the way. Officials will always review the themes the AI suggests and how it sorts the responses. They’ll have an interactive dashboard to play with, letting them filter and search for specific insights. It’s about AI doing the heavy lifting, so the humans can do the smart thinking.
Experts urge caution about the use of AI in government
This move towards AI in government isn’t happening in a vacuum, and experts are watching closely.
Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, commented: “Using AI to speed up public consultations is a great example of how technology can improve efficiency and save money. But AI is only as good as the data behind it. For tools like this to work well and fairly, government departments need to make sure their data is accurate, up-to-date, and properly managed.
“People need to trust the decisions made with AI. That means making sure the process is clear, well-governed, and ethical. If the data is messy or poorly handled, it can lead to biased or unreliable outcomes.
“As the government expands its use of AI in public services, it’s vital to invest in strong data practices. That includes building clear and consistent data systems, making data accessible for review, and keeping humans involved in key decisions—especially when it comes to hearing from the public.”
This sentiment is echoed by academics. Professor Michael Rovatsos from the University of Edinburgh, for instance, acknowledges the benefits but also wisely cautions about the risks of AI biases and even the potential for these tools to be manipulated. He’s calling for tough safeguards and ongoing investment to make sure any AI tool used by the government remains reliable and fair.
Stuart Munton, Chief for Group Operations at AND Digital, added: “The government’s use of AI to speed up public consultations is a welcome step toward smarter, more efficient public services. However, as AI adoption grows, we must ensure that people – not just technology – are at the heart of this transformation.”
“Tools like this will only reach their full potential if we invest in equipping public sector teams with the right skills and training. Empowering diverse talent to work with AI will not only improve how these tools perform but also ensure that innovation is inclusive to real-world needs.”
If done right, with these expert caveats in mind, AI tools like Consult have the potential to improve how governments listen, learn, and make policy based on public opinion. The UK government isn’t hanging about; the plan is to get Consult working across various departments by the end of 2025.
(Photo by Scott Rodgerson)
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