AI is transforming public services with a surge in applications

AI tools are significantly increasing the volume of requests to public services worldwide. In the UK, complaints to the housing ombudsman more than doubled since ChatGPT's introduction, rising from 2,600 in 2,022 to over 7,000 in 2025. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw a 5x increase in complaints over the same period. Similar trends were observed in Brazil and Germany. Chris Schmitz, a researcher tracking this trend, refers to it as 'agentic flooding.' His study, to be presented at the AI Ethics and Society conference, examines 84 cases across 11 jurisdictions, showing a consistent rise in applications post-2022. Schmitz notes that while some filings are adversarial, many are from legitimate applicants using AI to overcome administrative burdens. He sees this as an opportunity to modernize public services for the AI era. Schmitz highlights that AI is making it easier for people to file claims, reducing the effort required. He compares the surge to bug-bounty programs flooded with low-quality reports, but emphasizes that most public service applications are from real individuals with valid claims. He argues that AI can help streamline processes, making them more efficient. Schmitz believes this is a pivotal moment to rethink how these services operate in the AI era, ensuring they are designed to leverage AI effectively.