Excellent new survey by Jonathan Bright and colleagues at the Alan Turing Institute shows that 45% of UK public service professionals are aware of GenAI use at work, while 22% use it themselves. 61% of respondents trust it, and only 16% are concerned about job loss. Healthcare professionals believe AI could reduce time spent on bureaucracy from 50% to 31%, potentially saving nearly a day of work each week. However, 59% of respondents report a lack of clear usage guidelines.
From one side, this highlights the need for a more systematic AI adoption strategy in the public sector. But we must be cautious about top-down implementations in government. Research on innovation consistently shows that frontline workers often drive the most impactful changes, particularly when adopting new technologies. They are well-positioned to identify both the risks and opportunities of AI use.
This is especially important for general purpose technologies like AI, where valuable use cases frequently emerge through experimentation in specific public sector contexts. Senior decision-makers issuing guidelines may lack the practical experience necessary to understand AI’s full potential in these environments.
There’s a risk that an excessive focus on risk avoidance could stifle the decentralized innovation that’s critical for realizing AI’s potential in public services.
A balanced approach is key: providing a framework for responsible AI use while giving frontline workers the discretion they need to adapt the technology to their daily tasks. This aligns with what we know about user-driven innovation, allowing the organic discovery of valuable use cases while managing risks.
We should remember that the digital public services highway is littered with well-intentioned guidelines and regulations that, when misapplied, can end up working against the end-users, whether they are civil servants, citizens, or businesses.
Kudos to Jonathan Bright and the team at the Alan Turing Institute for this important and timely research!