There’s no shortage of buzz around artificial intelligence (AI). From self-driving cars to the promise of revolutionising healthcare, AI is being hailed as the technology that will change the world around us. But what does this really mean for our everyday lives? And how can we ensure that AI is used to serve all of us across society, not just the interests of a few?

At the University of Cambridge, ai@cam is at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence with real purpose. Led by Professor Neil Lawrence and Jessica Montgomery, the University’s flagship mission on AI unites expertise from across research domains, businesses, policy-makers, and civil society to ensure AI supports practical, community-driven solutions that benefit all in society.

One of the biggest misconceptions around AI is the hype surrounding Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), or machines that could outperform humans in all tasks. Lawrence refers to this as “AGI vaporware,” promises of a technology that haven’t yet been built but are marketed to attract investment. “There is no doubt that these technologies are utterly transformational, but we need to be careful,” he explains. “The term AGI is being used as a marketing tool, but marketing doesn’t solve the real-world problems we care about, like healthcare or education.”

The focus on this speculative future distracts attention from where AI could make an immediate difference. The challenge of translating that potential into practice couldn’t be more true than when it comes to our public services. “There’s often a sense that experts from industry or research can simply hand down a ‘one size fits all’ solution to public service professionals,” Montgomery points out. But the reality is far more collaborative. “If we’re going to make AI tools useful for the public sector, we need to start by understanding the issues that public servants and people using public services are grappling with” she says. “AI won’t offer a quick fix. The real challenge is tackling the complex issues - whether it’s healthcare, education, or crime - by working through these problems together. We need to co-create solutions that truly serve the public and that’s by involving them at the very beginning of AI design.”

Local government is at the heart of everyday life - delivering essential services that support communities, from housing and social care to transport and education. As councils grapple with rising demand, and reduced budgets, artificial intelligence is being looked to as a tool with the potential to enhance how these services are designed and delivered.

One of the key areas where AI is making an impact is in local council contact centres. “We’re often handling high volumes of routine queries which range from finding the correct bin day to people’s housing benefits,” explains Liz Watts, Chief Executive of South Cambridgeshire District Council. “We need to provide our residents with accurate information about the services they rely on, and that means using tools which can deliver that safely and effectively.”

By identifying a clear vision of the core functions needed and categorising their most common questions into key themes, they’ve been able to develop AI-powered assistant, “Sam.” The AI tool can provide immediate, automated answers and, if necessary, escalate more complex matters for human support. “We needed a system which was cost-effective and could integrate into our current processes - it needs to fit into the way we work and support the services already on offer.” While the technology is still new, the initial feedback has been positive. “We’re confident that it will help reduce demand. Ultimately, we want to reinvest the resources saved into other critical community services, ensuring that we continue to support our residents in the most impactful way possible.”

AI’s integration into local government services presents new opportunities to support the most vulnerable in society, particularly those who may need vital access to social care or housing support. Many local councils are adopting ‘Magic Notes’, an AI tool that was designed to reduce the time social workers spend on taking notes when they’re with clients, so they can focus on the client and their needs. By using Large Language Models (LLMs) which have been customised for frontline casework, the tool creates structured case notes that are compliant with service requirements.

Co-developed in collaboration with social workers and piloted across local authorities in England, the tool is a prime example of AI specifically designed to tackle some of the challenges faced by councils. “It directly addresses the needs of social care teams and the residents they serve” says Watts.

Despite the visible benefits of AI, the adoption of AI systems in local councils is not without its challenges. Smaller councils, in particular, struggle to develop and implement AI solutions due to limited staff and budget. “AI adoption in local government isn’t systematic - it’s more like word of mouth,” says Watts. “There’s no unified approach or official guidance on how to implement AI effectively. What we need is access to expertise through collaboration with universities and government or a space for knowledge-sharing. The stakes are high here - the systems we choose to implement have very real consequences for our residents and service users. We must get this right.”

Dr Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong and his team are all too aware of the pressures facing local government. As one of five winners of ai@cam’s flagship AI-deas programme, he leads the Decision-making with AI in Connected Places and Cities project - working on developing practical guidance to help local authorities make ethically-informed decisions about using AI in their digital transformation efforts.

“Our project is about giving local authorities the knowledge and confidence to make decisions around AI that are not only technically sound, but socially responsible,” says Dr Oti-Sarpong. “We want to ensure that as digitalisation accelerates, it does so in a way that prioritises ethics, and reflects the values of the communities it’s meant to serve.”

The AI-deas team are already putting those principles into practice. Through a collaboration with Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (GCSP), they’re supporting the introduction of a new AI tool designed to streamline the thousands of comments received from residents, community groups and the public, submitted during consultations on planning policies.  “The Local Plan sets the future for the area for the next 15 to 20 years. It covers everything - housing, transport, infrastructure, environmental policies. Every planning application will need to comply with these policies once the Plan is adopted” explains Terry de Sousa, Planning Policy and Strategy Team Leader at GCSP.

But processing over 9,500 consultation comments is no small feat. Terry’s team calculated it requires around 450 officer days to review, summarise, and categorise the feedback. “Comments can vary from a single line to a 100-page technical document with multiple datasets,” he says. “Our whole team is dedicated to this for months. The Local Plan can shape people’s lives for decades, so every comment must be considered and accounted for.”

With a clear target to reduce the time taken for analysis, GCSP partnered with the University of Liverpool, Anglia Ruskin University, and University of Cambridge to create a bespoke AI tool that could be responsibly deployed to support their work. Using 55,000 comments gathered over 15 years of public consultations to train the model, the dataset ensures the tool understands the planning context, terminology, and specific terms unique to Greater Cambridge. “It’s not simply about efficiency - it’s about ensuring the model can grasp the complexity and nuance of the comments” notes de Sousa.

To develop the tool successfully, it was crucial that clear ethical principles were considered from the start. “We’ve acted as ‘critical friends’ throughout the process,” Oti-Sarpong explains. “AI tools must be designed to minimise bias or exclusion. If these systems aren’t transparent and inclusive, there is a serious risk of reinforcing existing inequalities or further marginalisation of certain groups."

Through ongoing consultation, the team has helped define ethical benchmarks for the project, keeping public value at the forefront. While the current work centres on a specific AI tool for urban planning, Oti-Sarpong’s team hopes to broaden the support available to other local authorities with help from the Local Government Association (LGA). “We want to learn from this case study and apply those lessons to other AI-based tools” he says. “Local authorities don’t just deliver services - they shape the communities we live in. There are still many unknowns when it comes to AI in the public sector but we want to support local councils to navigate these challenges in a way that builds public trust.”