UK councils, MPs and employers report surge in complaints written with AI chatbots

Organisations across the UK are struggling with a rising tide of complaints, requests and legal challenges drafted with generative AI tools, according to a report by The Guardian. Councils, MPs' offices, schools, courts and private employers describe correspondence that takes seconds to produce but far longer for staff to read and answer, a problem some commentators have labelled "AI clog".

Longer letters, heavier workloads

Deborah Evans, chief executive of Lawyers in Local Government, said complaints to councils once averaged around two pages, while most are now about ten times that length, with one running to roughly 200 pages. She noted that chatbots often frame routine grievances as legal claims, citing statutes and case law from other jurisdictions and occasionally inventing material. Councils receive no extra funding to handle the higher volume.

The Information Commissioner's Office found many public authorities received more requests in 2025 and described AI-written ones as often lengthy, repetitive and unclear about what is being asked. It nonetheless says such requests still require a human response. Transport for London logged a record 4,769 freedom of information requests in 2025-26 and has reported more appeals containing technical and often inaccurate claims.

In Westminster, the GMB union said casework in some MPs' offices has doubled or more. One office has stopped replying to automated "click to email your MP" campaigns so staff can concentrate on constituents. Employers report a similar pattern, with government figures showing employment tribunal claims between April and June up 28% on a year earlier.

Possible responses

Some ombudsman services are introducing word limits or online templates that restrict attachments. Wiltshire council is exploring AI tools to summarise long emails and prepare draft replies, and researchers have floated fees for requests or blocking bots from government websites. Evans cautioned that relying on machines to answer machines risks "losing the human touch".

What it means for technology users

For people following computing and the internet, the situation shows how cheap text generation can shift costs from senders to recipients. Anyone using chatbots to draft official correspondence may find that shorter, accurate messages stating a clear desired outcome are handled more effectively. Organisations are likely to weigh new filtering software, submission rules and AI-assisted triage, raising practical questions about accuracy, privacy and human oversight in digital public services.