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A Sky News report published October 20 says written complaints, information requests and employment tribunal claims have increased across several UK public services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The report links the broad pattern to cheaper AI-assisted writing, but the figures do not establish that AI caused the increases, and many complaints are genuine.
Complaints and written claims to British public bodies have risen across multiple services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, according to a Sky News report published October 20. The report says AI has made it cheaper to produce paperwork, adding pressure to systems that rely on written submissions, but the figures do not prove that AI caused the increases.
Sky News technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe compared changes in several channels since ChatGPT’s launch. Household complaints about water companies rose 144%, complaints to English local authorities rose 78%, and written complaints to GP practices increased 71%. The report also recorded increases in complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions (64%), individual employment tribunal claims (62%), legal services (49%), the NHS (35%), police forces (34%) and public services overall (23%).
The figures cover different services, each with its own circumstances. Sky News noted, for example, that water companies have faced difficult years. The report’s central observation is that several otherwise separate channels show a similar pattern: relatively little change for years, followed by a rise beginning around late 2022 and accelerating afterward. The data indicate a broad increase in written activity, but do not isolate AI’s contribution from other causes.
Manthorpe also tested 100 recent Freedom of Information requests with an AI-text detector. The tool classified 89% as fully AI-written and 9% as human; a smaller 2019 sample was classified as entirely human. Sky News cautioned that detectors are unreliable and that this limited test cannot establish the authorship of all requests or show that AI produced the wider rise.
PUBLIC SERVICES · UK · REPORTING SNAPSHOT
AI Is Swamping British Bureaucracy With Paperwork, And Friction May Not Help
Written complaints and claims have risen across several public services since ChatGPT launched. The trend is real; AI’s share of it remains unproven.
Reported changes since ChatGPT launched · November 2022
01 / The reported rise
Many channels, one broad pattern
Sky News technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe compared changes in written activity across services. These channels have different circumstances and the figures do not all share the same drivers.
Household complaints about water companies, which have faced difficult years.
Complaints to English local authorities.
Written complaints to GP practices.
Complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Individual employment tribunal claims.
Complaints to legal services.
Complaints to the NHS.
Complaints to police forces.
Public services overall, as reported by Sky News.
02 / Access and capacity
More submissions, strained services
Higher volume is not proof that requests are frivolous. AI may help people express valid concerns or navigate processes that once felt difficult. At the same time, every submission can take staff time to read, check and answer.
A clearer route into formal processes
Drafting assistance may help people make complaints or claims. A submission can point to a genuine failure even when AI helped write it.
More correspondence means more work
If case volumes grow while staffing and processes stay the same, answers may take longer and officials may have less time for other work.
“It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.”Civil servant · survey cited by Sky News
“It honestly feels in some instances we’re arguing with ChatGPT.”Civil servant · survey cited by Sky News
03 / FOI requests
Cheaper drafting meets a written system
Freedom of Information volumes reportedly changed little for more than a decade before rising after ChatGPT became publicly available. AI can draft or expand text; the evidence here does not show how often it is used in any one channel.
Write the request
People submit questions to public authorities through established written processes.
Drafting gets easier
Generative AI can help produce or extend text, potentially lowering the effort to submit.
Volume and complexity rise
Authorities report more requests and some that misquote legislation or need clarification.
Agencies process the work
Staff must identify what is being asked and respond under the applicable rules.
04 / What the evidence can say
AI’s share of the increase is unknown
The report brings together a timing pattern and a small detector test. Neither identifies AI as the cause of the overall increase.
| Evidence | What it suggests | What it cannot establish |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple channels rose after late 2022 | Written activity increased across several services. | ✗ Whether AI caused those increases or how much it contributed. |
| Detector test on 100 recent FOI requests | 89% were classified fully AI-written; 9% as human. | ✗ Authorship of all requests. Detectors can misclassify text; the sample is limited. |
| 58% of surveyed civil servants | Respondents perceived a significant effect on their work. | ✗ A measured change in staff hours, costs or service delays. |
| Service-level totals | Different channels show substantial reported increases. | ✗ A single shared cause; underlying problems and recording practices can differ. |
05 / Policy choices
Reduce friction—or improve handling?
The policy question is how public bodies can process more correspondence without blocking valid requests. The report does not identify a new government-wide policy or a specific upcoming decision.
Keep access open while making responses workable.
Adding barriers may deter people with valid concerns. Leaving systems unchanged may make delays more likely if volumes keep growing. Better evidence would track response times, staff workload and outcomes, and separate AI’s role from other drivers.
06 / Beyond Britain
Similar pressures reported elsewhere
Researcher Chris Schmitz documented 84 possible cases of “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions, in work reported by TechCrunch in September.
Complaints to the UK Housing Ombudsman rose from about 2,600 in 2022 to just over 7,000 last year.
Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau increased fivefold.
Possible cases across 11 jurisdictions; reported activity alone does not show AI was the cause.
07 / Key questions
What readers should know
What increased?
Written complaints to several UK services and individual employment tribunal claims. The reported range runs from 23% for public services overall to 144% for water company complaints.
Did AI cause the rise?
The report does not prove that. The timing fits the possibility that AI made paperwork easier, but causes can differ by service and text detectors are unreliable.
Are AI-written FOI requests valid?
Yes. The ICO says AI-written requests remain valid. Authorities may seek clarification when a request is poorly formed.
More Submissions, Strained Public Services
More written submissions can mean more people are able to make claims or complain, including people who may have found formal processes difficult to navigate. The report cautions against treating higher volume as evidence that requests are frivolous: many are genuine, and a complaint may still identify a real failure even if AI helped someone draft it.
At the same time, each submission can take staff time to read, check and answer. In a survey of civil servants cited by Sky News, 58% said public use of AI-generated content significantly affects their work. If case volumes rise while staffing and processes stay the same, responses may take longer and officials may have less time for other work. The report frames the policy choice as whether government makes it harder to submit paperwork or changes the way it handles and requests information.
The distinction matters for readers using public services. A system that cannot keep up may delay answers, complaints handling or access to justice. Yet adding friction to submissions could also deter people with valid concerns. The reported figures show the pressure; they do not identify a single cause or establish which response would work best.
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A Written System Meets Cheaper Drafting
British public bodies have long handled many interactions through letters, forms and written complaints. According to the report, Freedom of Information request volumes had changed little for more than a decade before beginning to rise after ChatGPT became publicly available in November 2022. Generative AI can help users draft or expand text, though the source material does not establish how often it is used in each channel.
The Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance in May 2026 after public authorities reported increased volumes and more complex FOI requests. Some requests, they said, misquoted legislation or required substantial clarification. The ICO’s guidance says an AI-written request remains valid; authorities do not need to determine whether a person or an AI system wrote it, and they may ask for clarification when a request is poorly formed.
The pattern is also reported outside Britain. Researcher Chris Schmitz documented 84 possible cases of “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions, in work reported by TechCrunch in September. The reported examples include 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 increased fivefold. These figures describe activity over the periods reported; they do not, on their own, show that AI was the cause.
““It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.””
— Civil servant quoted in a survey cited by Sky News
document management software for public services
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The share of the increase attributable to AI is not established. Sky News presents a timing pattern across several channels, plus a small detector test, but neither shows that AI caused the rise. Text detectors can misclassify writing, and the 100-request sample is too limited to represent every FOI request or public-service submission.
Other explanations may differ by service. The reported totals do not account for changes in underlying problems, public awareness, access to advice, administrative rules or how each body records complaints. The source material also does not provide enough detail to compare the surveys’ methods or establish whether every channel’s figures cover identical time periods.
It remains unclear how much extra work AI-generated submissions create, how often they lead to valid outcomes, and whether the rise will continue. The civil-servant survey reports perceived impact, not a measured change in hours, costs or service delays.
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How Agencies Handle Rising Volumes
The immediate policy question is how public bodies can process more correspondence without blocking valid requests. The ICO’s May guidance sets out the current position for FOI: AI-written requests remain valid, and an authority can seek clarification when needed. The report does not identify a new government-wide policy or a specific upcoming decision.
Further evidence would need to distinguish AI’s role from other drivers and show how the increase affects response times, staff workloads and outcomes. For readers, the practical test will be whether agencies can keep answering requests and complaints promptly while preserving access to established processes. Sky News’ report documents the rise and the pressure reported by staff; how government will respond remains open.
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Key Questions
What has increased, according to the Sky News report?
Sky News reported increases in written complaints to several UK services and in individual employment tribunal claims, measured since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The reported changes range from 23% for public-service complaints overall to 144% for household complaints about water companies.
Does the report prove that AI caused the rise?
No. The timing and pattern are consistent with AI making it easier to produce paperwork, but the figures do not prove causation. The report notes that each channel has its own possible causes and that AI text detectors are unreliable.
Are AI-written Freedom of Information requests valid?
Yes. The Information Commissioner’s Office said in guidance issued in May 2026 that AI-written FOI requests remain valid. Authorities may ask for clarification if a request is poorly formed.
Does a higher number of complaints mean they are less genuine?
Not on the evidence presented. The source material says much of the increased volume is genuine, and researcher Chris Schmitz said most cases his work identified involved people entitled to make a claim. The reported totals do not show the merits of every complaint.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
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