AI tools developed to tackle rise in AI use

A council is building AI tools to help it process freedom of information (FOI) requests that are increasingly being written by AI.

Durham County Council's corporate data and insight manager Kim Teasdale said more residents were using AI to send in FOIs, which were longer and more complex than those constructed without technological assistance.

This meant more time was required to deal with each request, said Teasdale, so the council was exploring the use of AI tools to streamline the process.

The software could involve identifying and grouping together similar requests and pointing officials to relevant council responses to previous FOIs, she said.

In a report the authority said it had received 1,258 FOIs in the 12 months from June 2025.

That was 225 fewer than the same period the year before, but the council said processing time had increased due to the complexity of the requests which it suggested was because many were being written using AI.

This had led to a drop in the proportion of FOIs the council responded to within the expected 20 working days.

The authority also said it was looking into the use of an AI redaction tool to save time removing details from subject access requests.

Teasdale claimed AI tools would allow officials to work more efficiently and consistently while maintaining accuracy and there would always be "human oversight" in the process.

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Newcastle on BBC Sounds.