🔍 Read the full analysis: Can More Friction Reduce AI Paperwork In Britain? on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A Sky News report published October 20, 2026, finds written complaints, information requests and tribunal claims have increased across multiple British public services since ChatGPT launched. The report links the timing to cheaper AI-assisted writing but does not establish that AI caused the increases; evidence cited suggests many complainants have valid cases.
A Sky News report published October 20 says complaints, Freedom of Information requests and employment tribunal claims have risen across several British public services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The timing coincides with the spread of AI writing tools, but the report does not prove they caused the increases; it raises a policy question for government: whether to make submissions harder or replace paperwork-heavy processes.
Sky News technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe compared figures across a range of services. Since ChatGPT launched, household complaints about water companies rose 144%, complaints to English local authorities rose 78%, and written complaints to GP practices rose 71%. The report also lists increases for complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions (64%), individual employment tribunal claims (62%), legal services complaints (49%), written NHS complaints (35%), police complaints (34%) and complaints about public services (23%). These are reported changes over the period since launch; the source material does not provide a common annual rate or a single baseline date for every measure.
The figures cover different services, periods and types of submission, and each may have specific causes. Sky News describes a broadly similar pattern across the channels: numbers were relatively flat for years, then began rising around late 2022 and accelerated. Manthorpe also tested 100 recent Freedom of Information requests with an AI-text detector. It labelled 89% fully AI-written and 9% human-written; a smaller 2019 sample was labelled entirely human. The report cautions that AI detectors are unreliable and the test does not establish why request volumes rose.
A survey of civil servants cited in the report found 58% said public use of AI-generated content significantly affects their work. In May, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance after authorities reported higher volumes and more complex FOI requests. It said AI-written requests remain valid, authorities do not need to identify whether AI produced them, and they may seek clarification when a request is unclear or poorly formed.
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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Paperwork Pressure on Public Services
The increase matters because many public services still depend on people explaining a problem in writing, while staff must read, interpret and respond to each submission. AI tools can lower the effort involved in making a complaint, requesting information or pursuing a claim. That may increase workloads, but the rise in volume alone does not show that submissions are frivolous or misleading.
Sky News reports that the share of DWP complaints upheld has fallen from the 50% range to close to 40%. That is a lower proportion, but the report argues the larger total volume could still mean more upheld complaints in absolute numbers. The figures cited do not establish the exact number of valid cases or show how much of the change is attributable to AI.
For people entitled to challenge a decision, writing a formal letter can be a barrier. Adding fees or extra steps could reduce workload while also deterring valid complaints. The policy choice affects both service capacity and access to remedies, making the distinction between lower administrative volume and lower unmet need important.
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From ChatGPT Drafts to Agents
The report places the UK trend within a wider pattern. Researcher Chris Schmitz, in work reported by TechCrunch in September, documented 84 possible cases of what he calls “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions. The source says most cases were roughly flat before 2022 and increased afterward. It also cites the UK Housing Ombudsman, where 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 examples suggest the issue is not confined to one British service, but do not establish one cause for all increases.
Most current use described by Manthorpe involves people using chatbots to draft text. AI agents could go further by submitting claims or appeals on a user’s behalf. That prospect could raise volumes further if routine actions—such as challenging a parking ticket or requesting rail delay compensation—become easy to automate. The report presents these as scenarios, not confirmed forecasts of future complaint numbers.
Tom Loosemore, founder of the Government Digital Service and a figure involved in setting up GOV.UK, argues that public services should ask for structured information rather than essays. His position is that systems built around written accounts may struggle when AI reduces the cost of producing them. The source material does not give a detailed implementation plan or a government commitment to redesign specific services.
“It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.”
— Civil servants responding to an academic survey cited by Sky News
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Cause and Claim Quality Remain Unsettled
The reported timing does not prove that ChatGPT or other AI tools caused the increases. The services have separate trends and possible explanations; for example, water companies have faced difficult years, according to the source material. The figures also do not use one stated comparison window and baseline across all categories, limiting direct comparisons between them.
The detector test is not a reliable count of AI-written requests, and its results cannot establish how AI use changed overall FOI volumes. The civil-servant survey records reported workplace impact, not an independently measured share of submissions generated by AI. Nor does the source establish how many newer complaints are justified across all services. The role of automated agents in actually filing submissions remains a developing possibility rather than a measured driver of the figures.
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Redesign or Add More Friction
The immediate policy debate is whether authorities should respond to volume with additional barriers or adapt their processes. The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance already says AI-written FOI requests are valid and allows authorities to ask for clarification when needed. That leaves public bodies to manage workload within the rules while deciding how to handle complex or unclear submissions.
Loosemore’s proposed direction is to replace open-ended written explanations with structured data and service processes designed around the information officials need. The source does not identify a timetable, funded programme or announced government decision to adopt that approach. Any practical change would need to preserve a route for people to challenge decisions and make legitimate requests.
Further evidence will be needed to separate AI’s contribution from other causes, measure the share of valid complaints, and assess how automated agents change submission volumes. For now, the confirmed development is a broad rise reported across several channels, alongside official guidance that AI-assisted requests cannot be rejected solely because of how they were written.
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Key Questions
Did ChatGPT cause the rise in British complaints?
That has not been established. The increases began around the time ChatGPT launched, but timing and similar trends do not prove causation. Each service may have other reasons for changing volumes.
Can public bodies reject an FOI request because AI wrote it?
The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance says AI-written FOI requests remain valid. Authorities do not need to determine whether AI wrote a request, though they may ask for clarification if it is unclear or badly formed.
Are most new complaints considered spam?
The cited research cautions against that conclusion. Schmitz says most cases in his research involve people claiming something they are entitled to claim. The source does not establish the validity of every new complaint across all British services.
What changes to public services are being proposed?
Tom Loosemore argues for using structured data instead of essay-style applications. The source material does not report a specific government plan or timetable to make that change.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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