The UK Government Digital Service (GDS) has been experimenting with generative AI (GenAI) for its GOV.UK Chat solution ... with mixed results.
As part of the overall strategy of exploring how AI can be adopted to “improve the user experience of GOV.UK,” the GDS confirmed that the implementation of a GenAI-powered chatbot was the first in “a series of phased experiments.”
The organization opted to equip its bot with OpenAI’s Large Language Models (LLMs) to see if it could understand natural language queries and provide factually accurate responses.
Following the testing period, the organization sent follow-up surveys, the results of which highlighted a generally positive response to the GenAI-powered bot.
Indeed, almost 70 percent of respondents found the bot replies useful, while 65 percent were satisfied with the overall experience.
In discussing the early findings of the experiment, Christine Bellamy – Director of GOV.UK – was optimistic about the potential of the tech:
We believe that there is potential for this technology to have a major, and positive, impact on how people use GOV.UK... [and] that the government has a duty to make sure it's used responsibly, and this duty is one that we do not take lightly.
However, as well as surveying users, the organization also employed human experts to evaluate the accuracy and thoroughness of a sample of the tool's answers.
These experts found that some queries went unanswered due to the relevant GOV.UK webpage that the bot needed to access being too long.
The GDS also admitted to experiencing some problems with what it describes as the “known issues associated with the nascent nature of this technology,” which resulted in bot responses not reaching the high level of accuracy needed for GOV.UK customers.
In addition, the organization experienced instances of hallucination, where the system provided incorrect information as fact.
Moreover, some users underestimated or ignored the risks of inaccuracy with GOV.UK Chat, due to the “credibility and duty of care” associated with the GOV.UK brand.
In response to these shortcomings, the GDS confirmed that it aiming to improve accuracy by enhancing the tool’s ability to search for relevant GOV.UK information, guiding users to ask clearer questions, and exploring ways to tailor answers better to users' circumstances.
