TL;DR
A Sky News report published October 20, 2026, finds that complaints and claims across several British public services have risen since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The figures show a repeated upward pattern, but they do not establish that AI caused the increases; some requests are valid and many underlying complaints may be justified.
A Sky News report published October 20 found that written complaints and claims to several British public services have increased since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, raising pressure on a state system that relies heavily on paperwork. The figures show a similar upward pattern across unrelated channels, but they do not prove that AI caused the increases.
Using data reviewed by Sky News, technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe reported increases across nine channels since ChatGPT’s launch. Household complaints about water companies rose 144%; complaints about English local authorities rose 78%, and written complaints to GP practices rose 71%. The report also recorded increases of 64% for complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions, 62% for individual employment tribunal claims, 49% for complaints about legal services, 35% for written complaints to the NHS, 34% for complaints about police forces and 23% for complaints about public services. These are changes over the period since November 2022, not measures of AI’s contribution.
Manthorpe tested 100 recent Freedom of Information requests with an AI-text detector. The tool labelled 89% fully AI-written and 9% human; a smaller sample of requests from 2019 was labelled entirely human. The report cautioned that AI detectors are unreliable and that this small test cannot establish why request volumes rose.
A survey of civil servants cited in the report found that 58% said public use of AI-generated content significantly affects their work. Respondents described being bombarded with correspondence and feeling as if they were arguing with ChatGPT. Separately, the Information Commissioner’s Office said public bodies had reported higher volumes and more complex FOI requests, including some that misquote legislation or need clarification.
Britain’s Bureaucracy Faces a New Wave of Paperwork From AI
Complaints and claims have risen across several public services since ChatGPT launched. The pattern is clear; AI’s share of the increase is not.
Household complaints about water companies
Timing and AI use do not establish why volumes grew
At a glance
A broad rise in written contact
Sky News reported increases in complaints and claims across unrelated public service channels since November 2022. These are changes in volume over time, not estimates of AI’s contribution.
Reported change since ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch. Bar lengths are scaled to the largest increase. The figures do not show that AI caused any of these rises.
What the evidence does—and does not—show
The report describes staff concerns and an upward pattern. Its limited detector exercise cannot explain the trend or measure AI’s role across services.
89% labelled fully AI-written
A detector classified 100 recent FOI requests: 89% as fully AI-written and 9% as human. A smaller 2019 sample was labelled entirely human.
Not a reliable measure
The report cautioned that AI detectors are unreliable. This small test cannot establish why request volumes rose or represent every channel.
58% of civil servants
A survey cited by Sky News found 58% said public use of AI-generated content significantly affects their work.
“The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.”
Chris Schmitz, researcher · quoted by TechCrunchWhy more paperwork matters
Public bodies must process valid requests and claims even as workloads grow. Easier drafting may increase submissions, but rising totals can also reflect problems people are entitled to challenge.
More arrivals
AI can make it quicker to draft or refine correspondence sent to councils, health services, regulators and tribunals.
Harder to process
The ICO reported higher volumes and more complex FOI requests, including some that misquote legislation or need clarification.
Claims can be justified
Higher volume does not make complaints frivolous. The reported totals do not establish whether individual cases are justified.
A wider pattern, with many possible causes
The UK figures sit alongside other reported increases. They point to growing written claims, but do not identify one common cause.
Long plateau, then growth
For more than a decade, FOI request numbers to British public bodies changed little, according to Sky News. They began rising after November 2022 and then accelerated.
About 2,600 to over 7,000
The UK Housing Ombudsman received about 2,600 complaints in 2022 and just over 7,000 last year, according to the source material.
Fivefold rise
Complaints to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rose fivefold over the same period, according to the source material.
Service-specific conditions matter too. Water companies, for example, have faced a difficult period, so timing alone cannot explain their complaint totals.
Interpretation · trend does not equal causeHow public bodies can respond
The Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance in May 2026 on AI-written FOI requests. Its approach keeps requests valid while allowing clarification where needed.
Receive
An AI-written FOI request remains a valid submission.
Review
Authorities do not need to determine who or what wrote it.
Clarify
If wording is poorly formed or unclear, officials may ask for clarification.
Measure
Comparable data on drafting and outcomes would help explain the trend.
Key questions
What did Sky News report?
Complaints, FOI requests and employment tribunal claims across several British services rose since ChatGPT launched, with increases of 23% to 144% across the listed channels.
Does this prove AI caused the rise?
No. The timing and detector test are consistent with greater AI use, but do not establish causation. Each service may have other reasons for changing volumes.
Are AI-written FOI requests valid?
Yes. The ICO said in May 2026 that an AI-written request remains valid. Authorities may ask for clarification if its wording is unclear.
Are the increased complaints frivolous?
Not necessarily. Researcher Chris Schmitz said most cases he identified involved people entitled to make a claim. The totals do not determine whether individual submissions are justified.
More Claims Meet Paper-Based Services
The reported increases matter because public bodies must process written requests and complaints even when their workloads grow. AI tools can make it quicker to draft or refine correspondence, potentially increasing the number or length of submissions that arrive at councils, health services, regulators and tribunals. The report documents staff concerns about the effect on their work, while the figures show that growth is occurring across multiple channels.
Higher volumes do not by themselves show that people are making frivolous claims. Researcher Chris Schmitz, whose work on possible cases of “agentic flooding” was reported by TechCrunch, said: “The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.” A rise in paperwork may reflect both easier drafting and underlying problems in the services people are trying to challenge. The available figures do not separate those factors.
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The Pattern Since ChatGPT
For more than a decade, the number of FOI requests to British public bodies had changed little, according to the Sky News report. It began to rise after ChatGPT’s public launch in November 2022, then accelerated. Manthorpe said similar shapes appear in data on complaints and claims across services. Each channel also has its own possible causes: for example, water companies have faced a difficult period, so the timing alone cannot show that AI explains their complaint totals.
The trend reported is not limited to Britain. TechCrunch reported in September on research by Chris Schmitz documenting 84 possible cases across 11 jurisdictions of what he calls “agentic flooding.” The UK Housing Ombudsman received about 2,600 complaints in 2022 and just over 7,000 last year, while complaints to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rose fivefold over the same period, according to the source material. These comparisons point to broader growth in written claims, but do not establish a single cause.
In May 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office issued guidance on AI-written FOI requests. It said such requests remain valid and that authorities do not need to determine who or what wrote them. If a request is poorly formed, an authority may ask for clarification.
“The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing.”
— Chris Schmitz, researcher, as quoted by TechCrunch
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The figures establish reported growth in several types of written contact, but they do not quantify how much was produced with AI or show that AI caused the increase. The detector exercise covered only 100 recent FOI requests, used a tool the report described as unreliable, and was not a representative study of all channels. The comparison with a smaller 2019 sample is suggestive, not conclusive.
Nor do the totals explain why each channel changed. Service-specific events and conditions may contribute, and the data presented do not show how many submissions were justified, resolved, duplicated or generated with automated agents. The report cites an estimate that about one-third of Financial Ombudsman complaints were AI-generated, but the source material gives no underlying study details or measurement window. The scale and consequences of AI use across public services therefore remain uncertain.
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How Public Bodies Respond
The ICO’s May guidance gives authorities a current rule for FOI requests: AI use does not invalidate a submission, and officials can seek clarification when its wording is unclear. Public bodies will continue to face the operational question of how to handle rising volumes while processing valid requests and claims.
The next evidence needed is more detailed, comparable data on submissions across services, including how they were drafted and what outcomes they produced. The report does not identify a government policy change or a scheduled review that will settle those questions. For now, the trend is documented, the role of AI is plausible, and the extent of its contribution remains unconfirmed.
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Key Questions
What did Sky News report?
It reported that complaints, FOI requests and employment tribunal claims across several British services have risen since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, with increases ranging from 23% to 144% across the channels listed.
Does the report prove AI caused the increase?
No. The timing and the detector test are consistent with greater AI use, but they do not establish causation. Each service may have other reasons for changing volumes.
Are AI-written FOI requests valid?
Yes. The Information Commissioner’s Office said in May 2026 that an AI-written request is still valid. Authorities may ask for clarification if it is badly formed.
Are the increased complaints necessarily frivolous?
No. The source material includes researcher Chris Schmitz’s view that most cases he identified involved people entitled to make a claim. The reported totals do not establish whether individual submissions are justified.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
