TL;DR
A Sky News report published October 20 says written complaints, Freedom of Information requests and tribunal claims have risen across several British public services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The figures show a repeated pattern, but they do not establish that AI caused the increases; the report also cites concerns from civil servants about the effects on their work.
Written complaints and claims have risen across several British public services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, according to a Sky News report published October 20. The report presents the increases as evidence that AI tools may be making it easier to prepare public-facing paperwork, though the figures do not establish that AI caused the rise.
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Using data it had seen, Sky News reported increases across nine channels. Household complaints about water companies rose 144%; complaints to English local authorities rose 78%; written complaints to GP practices, 71%; and complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions, 64%. Individual employment tribunal claims rose 62%, while complaints about legal services rose 49%, written complaints to the NHS 35%, complaints about police forces 34%, and complaints about public services 23%. The comparison is with the period around ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch; the report says each channel has its own causes.
The report describes a similar pattern across the channels: volumes were broadly flat for years, then began rising from late 2022 and accelerated. A separate test by technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe found that an AI-text detector classified 89 of 100 recent Freedom of Information requests as fully AI-written and nine as human-written. A smaller sample of requests from 2019 was classified as entirely human. Manthorpe cautioned that the test was not conclusive: AI detectors can be unreliable, and it does not show that AI produced the wider increase.
A survey of civil servants cited by Sky News found that 58% said AI-generated content from the public significantly affects their work. The report also cites a finding that about one-third of Financial Ombudsman complaints were AI-generated, and says roughly 40% of DWP complaints are still upheld, down only from the 50s. Those figures provide additional measures of workload and complaint outcomes, but the material does not give further detail on their methods or time periods.
BRITAIN · PUBLIC SERVICES · OCTOBER 2026
How AI Is Changing the Paperwork Load Across Britain’s Public Sector
Complaints and claims have risen across several public services since ChatGPT launched. The pattern is clear; how much AI contributed is not.
Complaints and claims are up
Sky News compared volumes with the period around ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch. Each channel has its own possible causes, and the reported increases do not establish that AI caused them.
More paperwork, greater strain
Public bodies still need to respond under the rules that apply, whatever tools a person used to draft a submission. Higher volumes can mean more correspondence to assess, claims to investigate and deadlines to meet.
More material to process
Staff may spend more time handling correspondence, investigating claims and seeking clarification on unclear wording.
Valid routes to redress
Many complaints may be justified. Responses to rising volumes need to preserve access to complaint and information channels.
Volume is not merit
The report says roughly 40% of DWP complaints are still upheld, down from the 50s. It provides no further method or time-period detail.
What civil servants told the survey
“It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.”
Survey respondent · cited by Sky News
A pattern is not a cause
The timing is a point of comparison. The available material does not show how much of the increase came from AI-assisted writing, or explain all the factors behind each service’s trend.
What the report observes
Several channels were broadly flat for years, then began rising from late 2022 and accelerated. A separate test classified 89 of 100 recent FOI requests as fully AI-written and nine as human-written; a smaller 2019 sample was classified as entirely human.
What it cannot establish
AI detectors can be unreliable. The test does not prove authorship or explain the wider increase. The figures also lack detailed methods, exact underlying counts for every channel, and a full breakdown of AI-assisted submissions.
Wider signals
Researcher Chris Schmitz identified 84 possible cases of “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions. UK Housing Ombudsman complaints rose from about 2,600 in 2022 to just over 7,000 last year; US CFPB complaints rose fivefold over the same period.
Additional measures
The report says about one-third of Financial Ombudsman complaints were AI-generated. It gives no further detail on the methods or time periods behind that figure.
How public bodies can handle unclear requests
In May 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance on AI-generated FOI requests. An AI-written request remains valid; authorities do not need to determine who or what wrote it.
Accept the request under the rules that apply.
Review the wording and the information being sought.
Ask for clarification when a request is badly formed.
Track volumes, processing time and outcomes to build better evidence.
Make it harder to ask—or change what is asked?
The report describes a rise in written submissions across several services, alongside concerns from staff about the effect on their work. How much of the extra load is due to AI, how much reflects other pressures, and what response protects both administrative capacity and people seeking redress remain unresolved.
More Paperwork, Greater Strain
Public bodies must respond to requests and complaints under rules that apply regardless of whether someone drafted the text with AI. Higher volumes can add work for staff handling correspondence, investigating claims and meeting response deadlines. The civil servant survey suggests that some workers already perceive a substantial effect, with respondents describing a rapid influx of correspondence and difficulty responding to material they believe has been shaped by AI.
The reported increases also span services with different responsibilities, from water companies and local authorities to health care and employment tribunals. That spread makes the pattern relevant to more than one department. It does not show that every additional complaint is weak or generated by AI: many may be justified, and service-specific developments can affect volumes. The practical issue for public bodies is how to process more written material while preserving access to complaint and information channels.
The choice of response could affect both administrative capacity and people seeking redress. The report frames the challenge as whether government makes it harder to ask or changes what it asks for. Any changes to forms or handling procedures would need to account for legitimate claims as well as poorly formed or repetitive correspondence.
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A Paperwork System Under Pressure
The rise in written submissions followed ChatGPT’s public launch in November 2022. The timing is a point of comparison in the Sky News report, not proof that the chatbot or other AI tools caused the changes. The water-company figures, for example, come after several difficult years for the sector, and the report notes that every channel has its own possible causes.
The trend is not confined to Britain. A paper by researcher Chris Schmitz, reported by TechCrunch in September, identified 84 possible cases of what he calls “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions. Most had been roughly flat before 2022 and then rose. The UK Housing Ombudsman recorded about 2,600 complaints in 2022 and just over 7,000 last year, according to the report; complaints to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rose fivefold over the same period. These examples suggest a wider pattern, but they do not by themselves identify its causes.
In May 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance on AI-generated FOI requests. Public authorities had reported rising volumes and more complex requests, including some that misquoted legislation or required substantial clarification. The ICO said an AI-written request remains valid and that authorities need not determine who or what wrote it. They may seek clarification when a request is badly formed.
““It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.””
— Civil servant responding to a survey cited by Sky News
What the Figures Cannot Show
The reported increases establish that volumes rose over the stated comparison period, but the available figures do not show how much of that rise came from AI-assisted writing. The detector test covers 100 recent FOI requests, and its classifications are not a reliable measure of authorship. It also cannot establish whether AI changed the number of requests people submitted.
Nor do the figures explain the causes in each service. Events affecting a sector, changes in public awareness or other factors could influence complaints and claims. The source material does not provide detailed methods, exact underlying counts for every channel, or a breakdown of AI-assisted submissions across all nine. It remains unclear how much of the extra work is caused by AI, how much reflects other pressures, and how many more submissions lead to upheld complaints or successful claims.
How Public Bodies Respond
The ICO’s May guidance gives public authorities a framework for handling AI-written FOI requests: the requests remain valid, and clarification may be sought when wording is unclear. The Sky News report does not describe a new national policy or a planned change to complaint and claims procedures.
Further evidence would help distinguish increased use of AI from other reasons for rising volumes. That could include consistent reporting of submission counts, processing time, outcomes and the extent to which AI was used. For now, public bodies face a documented rise across several written channels, while the scale of AI’s contribution and the best way to manage it remain unresolved.
Key Questions
Which public-sector channels saw the largest reported increases?
Sky News reported a 144% rise in household complaints about water companies since ChatGPT launched, followed by a 78% rise in complaints to English local authorities and 71% in written complaints to GP practices.
Does the report prove AI caused the increases?
No. The figures show rises over a period beginning around ChatGPT’s launch, but timing does not establish causation. The report notes other possible causes and warns that its AI-detector test is not conclusive.
Are AI-written Freedom of Information requests valid?
Yes. The Information Commissioner’s Office said in May 2026 that AI-written FOI requests remain valid. Authorities may ask for clarification when a request is badly formed.
What did civil servants report?
In a survey cited by Sky News, 58% said AI-generated content from the public significantly affects their work. Some respondents described the correspondence as arriving quickly and adding strain.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
