At the citizen service desk in Elmbridge town hall, the wait for a residence certificate or a parking permit used to be around 25 minutes. Since the city began testing an artificial intelligence assistant in late summer, the average has dropped to under 15, according to figures released this week.
The system, developed by the Elmbridge software firm Lindgrove Systems, runs on the clerks’ computers. It reads the request, pulls up the relevant rules and pre-fills forms, while the clerk checks every field before anything is signed or sent. It is one of three pilot projects in which local companies are testing AI tools in municipal administration, alongside trials in Cedar Falls and Westmoor.
The machine suggests, the clerk decides
City officials stress that the assistant has no authority of its own. It cannot approve applications, and every suggestion is logged so it can be reviewed later.
We use it the way you would use an experienced colleague sitting next to you: to remember the regulation you looked up three years ago.
Hanna Okafor, head of citizen services, Elmbridge
Clerks interviewed by News. were mostly positive. “The boring parts are faster now,” said one, who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak to the press. “I have more time to actually explain things to people.”
In Cedar Falls, a different company is testing a tool that sorts incoming emails and letters by topic, while Westmoor is trying an automated system for booking appointments.
Questions about data
Privacy specialists welcome the cautious approach but say the pilots expose a gap in the rules. Personal data, including addresses and family details, passes through the systems, and the contracts with the companies vary from city to city.
Lukas Brenner, who researches data protection at the University of Elmbridge, wants a national standard before the tools spread further. “Cities should not each negotiate their own terms with private suppliers. Where the data is stored, who can see it and how long it is kept should be the same everywhere,” he said.
The digital affairs ministry says it is preparing guidelines for the use of AI in public administration and expects to present them to the National Assembly early next year. The three pilots will run until the end of the year, after which the cities will decide whether to continue.
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