Public services around the world are experiencing a notable increase in applications and complaints, driven in part by AI tools that simplify the process of filing forms and requests. In the UK, complaints to the housing ombudsman more than doubled after the introduction of ChatGPT, rising from 2,600 in 2022 to over 7,000 last year. Similarly, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported a fivefold increase in complaints during the same period. Other countries, including Brazil and Germany, have seen comparable growth in judicial and parliamentary petitions.
Researcher Chris Schmitz has been studying this phenomenon, which he terms "agentic flooding." His upcoming paper, to be presented at the AI Ethics and Society conference, analyzes 84 cases across 11 jurisdictions, finding that AI tools are reshaping how citizens interact with public services. While some new filings may be adversarial or spam-like, many represent legitimate claims that were previously abandoned due to the complexity of the application process.
Schmitz’s research highlights that these increases coincide with the diffusion of AI technologies since 2022, and the upward trend shows no signs of slowing. He explains that AI assistants have made it easier for people to compile and submit requests, sometimes by simply uploading documents to AI apps that generate responses quickly and accurately.
This surge mirrors challenges seen in other sectors, such as bug bounty programs, which faced an influx of low-quality AI-generated reports last year. Public services may similarly struggle to manage a higher volume of applications without increased resources. However, unlike bug bounty reports, most new public service applications come from real individuals with valid claims.
The rise in submissions may reflect a reduction in administrative burdens, enabling more people to access benefits and services they were previously deterred from pursuing. Schmitz suggests this shift offers a chance to redesign public services to better integrate AI assistance, improving accessibility and efficiency.
He emphasizes the importance of envisioning positive outcomes for AI integration in public administration, noting that AI can be a helpful tool when properly applied. This moment could prompt a comprehensive reevaluation of how public service processes are structured in the AI era.