🔍 Read the full analysis: Why Friction May Not Stop AI From Burdening Britain With Paperwork on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A Sky News report published October 20 says complaints, Freedom of Information requests and employment tribunal claims have risen since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The timing and reported data suggest AI may be lowering the effort needed to file paperwork, but they do not prove AI caused the increases. The report argues that many claims are legitimate and that redesigning public services may be more effective than adding barriers.
Complaints, Freedom of Information requests and employment tribunal claims have increased across several UK public-service channels since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, according to a Sky News report published October 20. The data point to a growing administrative burden, but do not establish that AI caused the rise; the report also cites evidence that many submissions concern genuine claims or grievances.
Sky News technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe reported increases in nine categories, drawing on data seen by the broadcaster. The largest reported rise was 144% in household complaints about water companies. Complaints to English local authorities rose 78%, written complaints to GP practices 71%, and complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 64%. Individual employment tribunal claims rose 62% over the period described as since ChatGPT launched.
The other reported increases were 49% for complaints about legal services, 35% for written complaints to the NHS, 34% for complaints about police forces and 23% for complaints about public services. The source material does not specify the exact end date or detailed calculation method for each comparison. Each category may also have its own causes: the report notes, for example, that water companies have faced difficult years.
Manthorpe also tested 100 recent FOI requests with an AI-text detector. It labelled 89% fully AI-written and 9% human, while a smaller set of requests from 2019 was labelled entirely human. He cautioned that the test was not conclusive: detectors can be unreliable, and the result does not show that AI produced the wider rise in requests.
Infographic 01 · The paperwork curve
Flat for a decade. Then ChatGPT made paperwork cheap.
Across almost every channel where people write to the British state, volume has risen since November 2022. Much of it is justified.
Growth since ChatGPT launched
Change per channel since November 2022, as measured by Sky News. Bar length on a 0–150% scale.
Each channel has its own causes. The repeated shape, flat then accelerating from late 2022, is the signal.
Not just Britain
Other measurements of the same trend.
- UK Housing Ombudsman: about 2,600 complaints in 2022, just over 7,000 last year (TechCrunch).
- US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: complaints up fivefold over the same period.
- 84 cases in 11 jurisdictions of possible “agentic flooding”, most flat before 2022 (Chris Schmitz).
- ICO guidance, May 2026: AI-written FOI requests are valid; authorities may ask for clarification.
Schmitz: “The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.”
Sources: Sky News, Why AI could break Britain’s bureaucracy (20 Oct 2026); TechCrunch (10 Sep 2026); ICO (May 2026).
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Why Public-Service Workloads Are Rising
The figures matter because public services depend on written submissions to process complaints, benefits, information requests and appeals. If AI makes it easier to prepare those submissions, the volume reaching already stretched teams can rise quickly. A civil-servant survey cited by Sky News found that 58% of respondents said AI-generated content from the public significantly affects their work.
That workload does not, by itself, show that the submissions are frivolous. Sky News reported that the share of DWP complaints upheld has fallen from the 50% range to close to 40%. But a lower success rate does not mean most complaints are baseless, and a larger total volume can still produce more upheld complaints in absolute numbers. The report cites researcher Chris Schmitz, who said that in the cases he examined, “The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.”
That distinction shapes the policy choice. Restricting AI-written requests or adding fees could reduce volume, but may also deter people with valid claims. Alternatively, public bodies could change how they collect information and assess cases, so that more requests arrive in structured formats rather than lengthy letters.
AI-assisted document writing software
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The State’s Paperwork Bottleneck
The reported increases form part of a broader pattern described in the Sky News report: several channels were relatively flat for years before beginning to rise around late 2022. That timing is consistent with the spread of generative AI, but timing alone cannot establish cause. Changes in service quality, public awareness, eligibility, backlogs or other factors may also affect complaint volumes.
The report says the trend is not confined to Britain. A paper by Chris Schmitz, covered by TechCrunch in September, documented 84 possible cases of “agentic flooding” in 11 jurisdictions. The source material says many had been roughly flat before 2022 and increased afterward. It also cites the UK Housing Ombudsman, whose complaints rose from about 2,600 in 2022 to just over 7,000 last year, and the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where complaints grew fivefold. These are reported examples, not proof of a single cause shared across every institution.
In May, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance after public authorities reported higher volumes of AI-generated FOI requests, including requests that misquoted legislation or needed clarification. The ICO’s position, as described in the source material, is that AI-written requests remain valid; authorities do not need to identify whether a person or AI wrote them, and may seek clarification when a request is unclear.
““It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.””
— Civil servants responding to an academic survey cited by Sky News
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What the Data Cannot Prove
The figures show increases across several channels, but the source material does not provide a full dataset, exact comparison end dates for every category or a method that isolates AI’s effect from other causes. The FOI detector test is a small sample, and AI-detection tools can misclassify text. It does not prove that AI caused the overall rise, or establish what share of submissions across all services were AI-written.
It is also unclear how much of the additional volume is made up of valid claims, duplicate submissions, poorly formed requests or automated activity. The reported DWP upheld rate is one indicator, but it does not resolve that question across other bodies. The scale of any future increase from AI agents that submit forms and appeals directly is also unknown.
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Redesigning Requests and Applications
The immediate response varies by institution. The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance allows authorities to seek clarification on unclear FOI requests but does not permit them to invalidate a request simply because AI may have helped write it. The Financial Ombudsman Service, the report says, found about a third of its complaints were AI-generated and began charging some professional representatives to submit complaints; complaint numbers then fell. The source material does not give the size of that decline or show whether access to redress changed as a result.
Loosemore’s proposed alternative is for government to rely less on essays and more on structured data and redesigned digital services. He described adding friction as “a terrible, terrible decision,” arguing that technology companies may find ways around new barriers. He also warned that the existing approach to benefits may not remain workable without fundamental changes. The next test for public bodies will be whether they can handle higher volumes while preserving access for people with valid claims; the report does not identify a timetable or a government-wide redesign plan.
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Key Questions
What is the main development in the report?
Sky News reported increases in several UK complaint, FOI and tribunal channels since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The report examines whether AI-assisted writing may be making it easier to submit paperwork, while stressing that the figures do not prove AI caused the increases.
Which type of complaint rose the most?
The largest increase listed was 144% in household complaints about water companies. Sky News also reported rises in complaints to councils, GP practices, the DWP and other bodies. The source material does not state the detailed end date and calculation method for every category.
Does the report show that AI caused the increase?
No. The timing of the rise and Manthorpe’s small AI-detector test are suggestive, but neither establishes causation. The report notes that detectors can be unreliable and that other factors may influence complaint and request volumes.
Are AI-written FOI requests valid?
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance described in the report, AI-written FOI requests remain valid. Public authorities do not need to determine who or what wrote a request, though they can ask for clarification if it is unclear or badly formed.
What response does the report discuss?
The options include adding barriers, such as fees or extra friction, or changing services to use structured information instead of lengthy written applications. The report does not describe a single government-wide plan or a timetable for such changes.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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