Brits are worried that AI will dehumanize public services, leading to less human contact and oversight as well as job losses, according to people questioned by pollster Ipsos.
More respondents saw risks from AI than benefits, with 51 percent thinking it may lead to reduced human contact, 50 percent fearing job losses from automation, 47 percent concerned about over-reliance on technology reducing human oversight, and 46 percent worried about privacy and data security.
Fewer people saw opportunities from AI, with a third saying AI could free staff time by reducing administrative work and the same percentage seeing it as a way to let officials handle more information.
It is an open question as to whether politicians will use AI to give staff more time rather than employ fewer of them. Last year's spending review set targets to reduce administrative spending by 16 percent by 2029-30, with more than 8,500 civil servants expected to depart over the next year.
Overall, 37 percent of those responding to the Ipsos survey saw AI as a risk to public services compared with 23 percent seeing it as an opportunity. Those aged 55 to 75 were most pessimistic, with four in ten seeing risks and just 14 percent seeing opportunities, but even 16 to 34-year-olds were split 34 percent to 31 percent in favor of risks.
The research found many feel digitization has made no difference to public services and in some cases more feel it has made things worse than better.
Asked how many times they have to repeat themselves when dealing with public services, almost a third felt digital technology had a negative impact, 36 percent said no difference, and a fifth were positive. More people were positive than negative on digitization's impact on receiving information on public services, booking appointments, and final outcomes, however.
The survey found the public was pessimistic about the future of public services, with 54 percent thinking the National Health Service will get worse in the next few years compared with 10 percent expecting it to improve. It also found that 38 percent of respondents think the UK should aim for lower taxes and borrowing, even if that means less public spending, but 44 percent expect these to increase.
Ipsos carried out the research online with 5,847 adults aged 16 to 75 in December 2025 for public services think tank Re:State and consultancy Deloitte's annual State of the State report.
The report also drew on interviews with 118 public sector leaders as well as suppliers. Many were enthusiastic about AI projects and pilots and the need to scale these up, with some using personal AI accounts at work.
"I pay £20 for my own ChatGPT account and I use it all the time," said a director at a combined authority. "My boss doesn't like it, but are we supposed to trade in laptops for typewriters?"
Not everyone is on board with the AI revolution. One senior civil servant said: "None of the AI case studies turn out to be as good as the press release, and not a single one will transform government's cost base... There's a naive techno-utopianism in Whitehall." ®
Source: The register