FOI requests to UK government surge after ChatGPT, AI checker finds
A rise in AI-generated freedom of information requests is putting pressure on public services, with a language checker finding most sampled requests were machine-written.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Freedom of information requests to the British government are rising sharply after more than a decade of flat numbers, according to an analysis of request data. The shift began in 2022, first slowly and then with increasing speed, and broadly coincided with the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. The first mass-market chatbot made it much easier for people to draft and submit requests.
To test whether the rise was linked to AI, the analysis downloaded 100 FOI requests from this year and ran them through an AI language checker. The checker said 89% were fully AI and 9% were human. A smaller sample from 2019 was put through the same checker and all of it was detected as fully human.
The analysis said the timing could be a coincidence, which is why tests were run. It argued that the result matters because paperwork is what the British state runs on, and paperwork has suddenly become much easier to produce. Public bodies are already facing pressure from a new and evolving challenge as AI tools make it easier to submit requests and complaints, raising the risk of clogged systems and backlogs.
The analysis also looked at complaints as a telling area. Household complaints about water showed a slow rise after ChatGPT appeared. The wider point was that easier AI-assisted submissions could change the relationship between the public and the state by increasing the volume of formal correspondence that public services must handle.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| An AI checker estimated that 89% of a recent sample of Freedom of Information requests were fully AI-generated and 9% were human. | |
| ChatGPT launched in November 2022 and made it easier to submit Freedom of Information requests to the government. | |
| Freedom of Information requests to the UK government rose at an accelerating pace. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News led with a data-driven tech correspondent report, using a chart of FOI requests and a language-checker test to argue that ChatGPT has made formal requests much easier to submit. Its tone was concerned but measured, stressing that the timing might be a coincidence before presenting evidence of a sharp rise. It widened the angle to complaints, including water complaints, and warned that easier paperwork could change the relationship between the public and the state.
- “Thanks to AI submitting requests and complaints is now easier than ever before and public bodies are struggling to keep up”
- “First slowly and then with increasing speed freedom of information requests began to accelerate”
- “Because paperwork is what the British state runs on and paperwork suddenly got so much easier”
Broadcast Timeline
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