Hampshire County Council says AI is making residents’ complaints harder to deal with
ChatGPT is a useful tool but is making complaints more difficult to address, says Hampshire County Council
Complaints about council services are becoming longer and more complicated as residents turn to AI for help, Hampshire County Council says.
The authority says some complaints now contain lengthy arguments and references to laws, regulations and previous legal cases which are not always correct.
It says dealing with them is taking up more staff time and resources, as officers have to work through longer and more complex complaints.
The number of complaints taken to the second stage of the council’s complaints process increased from 240 to 264 in 2025/26.
The authority believes the growing use of AI is contributing to that increase and says a “significant proportion” of complaints taken to the second stage show signs of AI-generated content.
Overall, the council received 1,150 complaints at the first stage in 2025/26, 35 per cent fewer than the year before. Despite the drop, it says some complaints are becoming harder to deal with.
The figures were revealed in the council’s annual complaints report for 2025/26, presented to councillors at the Corporate Services and Resources Select Committee on November 6.
The council said its conclusions about AI use were based on the judgement of experienced officers who recognised characteristics commonly associated with the technology.
A Hampshire County Council spokesperson said: “These can include extensive references to legislation, regulations or case law, which are not always correct, as well as highly structured or repeated phrasing.”
However, the authority stressed it was not criticising people for using AI to make a complaint, and recognised “that it can be useful in helping individuals who may struggle to put their complaints in writing”.
It added that its concern was instead about the accuracy of some AI-assisted complaints.