🔍 Read the full analysis: AI Is Overloading Britain’s Bureaucracy With Documents on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A Sky News report published October 20, 2026, documents increases in written complaints, FOI requests and tribunal claims across UK public services since ChatGPT launched. The report links the pattern to cheaper AI-assisted writing but does not establish that AI caused the increases; officials and researchers say many claims reflect genuine needs.
A Sky News report published October 20 found that written complaints, Freedom of Information requests and employment tribunal claims have increased across multiple UK public services since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The report says the shared rise is consistent with AI making formal writing easier, but it does not prove AI caused the increases; the growing volume is adding work for public bodies and raising questions about services designed around written submissions.
Using figures seen by Sky News, technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe compared complaint and claims data across public services. Household complaints about water companies rose 144% after ChatGPT launched, while complaints about English local authorities rose 78%, written complaints to GP practices 71% and complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions 64%. Individual employment tribunal claims increased 62% over the same reported period.
Other channels also recorded increases: complaints about legal services rose 49%, written complaints to the NHS 35%, complaints to police forces 34% and complaints about public services 23%. Each category has its own possible causes; Sky News noted, for example, that water companies had faced difficult years. The report’s central observation is that many separate channels showed a similar pattern: relatively flat levels followed by rises beginning around late 2022. The figures show growth over the period, not proof that AI was responsible.
Manthorpe also tested 100 recent FOI requests with an AI-text detector. It labelled 89% as fully AI-written and 9% as human-written; a smaller group of requests from 2019 was labelled entirely human. The report cautioned that AI detectors are unreliable and that the small test cannot establish either authorship or causation. Separately, an academic survey cited by Sky News found 58% of surveyed civil servants said AI-generated material from the public significantly affected their work.
Infographic 01 · The paperwork curve
Flat for a decade. Then ChatGPT made paperwork cheap.
Across almost every channel where people write to the British state, volume has risen since November 2022. Much of it is justified.
Growth since ChatGPT launched
Change per channel since November 2022, as measured by Sky News. Bar length on a 0–150% scale.
Each channel has its own causes. The repeated shape, flat then accelerating from late 2022, is the signal.
Not just Britain
Other measurements of the same trend.
- UK Housing Ombudsman: about 2,600 complaints in 2022, just over 7,000 last year (TechCrunch).
- US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: complaints up fivefold over the same period.
- 84 cases in 11 jurisdictions of possible “agentic flooding”, most flat before 2022 (Chris Schmitz).
- ICO guidance, May 2026: AI-written FOI requests are valid; authorities may ask for clarification.
Schmitz: “The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.”
Sources: Sky News, Why AI could break Britain’s bureaucracy (20 Oct 2026); TechCrunch (10 Sep 2026); ICO (May 2026).
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Pressure on Complaint Systems
The figures matter because written submissions are how many people seek benefits, redress and answers from public bodies. More requests can increase staff workload and slow responses, especially when submissions need clarification or contain errors. But a higher volume is not necessarily evidence of abuse: it can also mean that people who previously struggled to write a formal appeal can now make one.
Sky News reported that the share of DWP complaints upheld has fallen from around the 50% range to close to 40%. That remains a substantial proportion, and because the total number of complaints has grown, the number upheld may still be higher in absolute terms. The report does not provide a full calculation of that total, so the precise change in upheld cases is not established.
The policy choice is consequential: adding hurdles could reduce submissions, but could also deter people with valid claims. Redesigning procedures to collect structured information rather than relying on lengthy letters may let agencies handle more cases without making access harder.
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From ChatGPT to Automated Claims
For years before ChatGPT, the number of FOI requests to British public bodies changed little, according to the account in the Sky News report. The rise reported since late 2022 spans complaints to councils, health services, regulators and government departments, as well as employment tribunal claims. The pattern is not uniform evidence of a single cause: local disputes, service problems and changes in awareness can also affect individual categories.
The report also points to research by Chris Schmitz, covered by TechCrunch in September, which identified 84 possible cases of what he calls “agentic flooding” across 11 jurisdictions. The research described many cases as broadly flat before 2022 and higher afterward. In the UK, the Housing Ombudsman’s complaints rose from about 2,600 in 2022 to just over 7,000 last year, according to the source material; the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw complaints grow fivefold. These examples offer wider context, not independent proof that AI explains each increase.
In May, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance after public authorities reported higher volumes and more complex AI-generated FOI requests, including submissions that misquoted legislation or needed clarification. The regulator said AI-written requests remain valid, authorities do not need to determine who or what wrote them, and they may seek clarification when a request is unclear.
“It’s like being bombarded with correspondence at speed.”
— Civil servants quoted in the academic survey cited by Sky News
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AI’s Role Is Not Proven
The reported increases establish a trend in several channels, but they do not establish how much of it was caused by AI. The figures cover services with distinct pressures, and the detector test is too limited—and the technology too unreliable—to verify authorship. The source material does not specify every dataset’s exact start and end dates or provide the full underlying data tables.
It is also unclear how many additional submissions are valid, how much extra staff time each creates, and whether the rise will continue. The survey figure reflects the views of respondents, not a direct measurement of hours spent processing AI-generated material. The report’s evidence supports concern about workload, but not a conclusion that AI has made complaints less legitimate overall.
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Redesigning Forms and Services
The immediate question for public bodies is how to process more correspondence while preserving people’s ability to challenge decisions. The ICO’s existing guidance allows authorities to ask for clarification on poorly formed FOI requests, while making clear that AI authorship alone does not invalidate a submission. The source material does not identify a new government policy or timetable for changing complaint systems.
The longer-term debate is whether agencies can move away from processes that require applicants to compose essays or formal letters. Loosemore advocates services based on structured data, which could gather the information officials need in a consistent format. That is a proposed direction, not an announced government programme. As AI agents begin to draft and submit claims automatically, officials will face further pressure to decide how systems should handle volume, errors and legitimate cases without closing off access.
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Key Questions
What did the Sky News report find?
It found that complaints, FOI requests and tribunal claims across several UK services rose after ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The increases are documented in the report, but AI’s role in causing them is not confirmed.
Does the report prove that AI caused the rise?
No. The timing and similar patterns across channels are consistent with AI-assisted writing becoming more common, but other factors may affect each service. The report also warns that AI-text detectors are unreliable.
Are the additional complaints mostly invalid?
The source material does not establish that. Researcher Chris Schmitz said most cases in his research involved people claiming something they were entitled to claim. Sky News also reported that close to 40% of DWP complaints are upheld, though the figure has fallen from the 50% range.
Can UK authorities reject an FOI request because AI wrote it?
No. The Information Commissioner’s Office said AI-written FOI requests remain valid. Authorities do not need to identify the authoring tool, but may ask for clarification when a request is unclear or badly formed.
What changes are being proposed?
Tom Loosemore argues for services that collect structured information rather than relying on written essays. The source material describes this as a proposed approach, not a government policy with an announced timetable.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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