Phone centre waiting times for public services could be cut in half by using AI, a minister has suggested.
Speaking to Sky News, Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the technology was “win-win” as it will save the taxpayer money and make the public experience better.
“I am determined to drive this technology through the government,” he added.
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Long waiting times has long blighted those trying to access services like Citizens Advice, HMRC and the DVLA.
But with the government talking of an AI revolution, one trial has used the tech to drastically reduce the volume of minutes spent on hold.
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) teams in Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford have managed to cut the average phone call length from eight minutes to four in a months’ long trial.
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The AI helper, Caddy, was developed in house by the team in Manchester. Its success led to interest from the government, and there are now hopes it can be expanded into public services.
CAB is run as a series of charities. There are hopes Caddy will be rolled-out nationwide across the service later this year.
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Rather than a robotic voice answering and directing callers, the software helps workers answer queries faster – and with greater confidence.
Stuart Pearson, the head of innovation at the CAB team in Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford, told Sky News: “Caddy frees our advisers to focus on what truly matters – listening, understanding, and providing personalised support to people during challenging times. This technology helps our staff and volunteers work more efficiently, but that person-to-person contact remains central to our service.
“For us, Caddy represents our commitment to embracing innovation while preserving the personal touch that has defined Citizens Advice for over 80 years. We want to use AI responsibly to help our people do even more good in communities across the country.”
The new system replaces the old ways of working, which including having to consult with colleagues and manually searching documentation – all of which required putting users on hold.
Instead, phone handlers can ask AI a question and quickly receive an answer based only on approved sources. The response is still checked by a senior member of staff.
“People won’t know when they’re calling that the person who is answering the call and assisting them is using the power of AI to get the right information to them much, much quicker – that means it’s a better experience,” Mr Kyle said.
“They get the information quicker, they can start to tackle the issues they’re calling about, you know, much more rapidly than before.
“And it also means that those volunteers working in Citizen’s Advice can actually speak to more people and help more people.”
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When Labour came to power last year, they inherited creaking public services, with public confidence in the sector plummeting.
One poll from Ipsos released a month before the general election found that three quarters of Britons believed public services had worsened since 2019.
And a report on the sector released by the Institute for Government at the end of 2023 said: “Public services that have for years been creaking are now crumbling.”
Concerns were rife about issues like long phone waiting times. His Majesty’s Revenue And Customs (HMRC) was accused by MPs of deliberately cutting off tens of thousands of calls in a bid to get them using online services.
The department said the claims were “completely baseless”.
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The technology secretary was keen to emphasise the point of the AI assistant was to make interactions “more human” – and callers wouldn’t know it was being used.
Mr Kyle said: “HMRC, for example, has 100,000 conversations every single day.
“Imagine if we, on that scale, could halve the amount of time that people need to spend having that conversation, they have more time to do the things that they need to be doing, or actioning the things they are calling the help centre for in the first place.
“But also it means that the people who are delivering that service can speak to more people and therefore the service gets better.”
Away from trying to provide a better service, AI could pave a way for the government to save money.
Mr Kyle said that “headcount, costs, people, go into the decisions that departments make”.
But he also wants to drive a better quality of service through a digital transformation.
“That is an absolute priority, and there will be other productivity gains along the way.” he said. “And we’re determined to deliver on both.”
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Unions, however, want to make sure the government works alongside workers in a bid to prevent job losses.
Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect, previously said there are “potentially large positives” for the use of AI in the civil service.
“But to make any technology work properly and to minimise the risks involved it needs to be introduced in consultation with their workforce, not imposed on them,” he added.
