More residents are using artificial intelligence to draft complaint letters to Welsh councils, a trend that is increasing staff workloads and risking the obscuring of important issues. Newport council has become the second local authority in Wales to raise concerns about AI-generated correspondence.
Last month, Rhondda Cynon Taf council reported an increase in complaints to adults and children's services that appeared to have been written using AI. Now Newport council says it is facing a "wave" of AI-assisted comments and complaints.
Sharp rise in AI-assisted complaints
Council leader Dimitri Batrouni told a scrutiny committee there was a recent 90% increase in 'valid' complaints considered to be AI-assisted, and a 77% increase in 'non-valid' complaints where AI was believed to have been used. He warned the council could end up being "overwhelmed" by the growing use of AI tools and "will have to be ahead of the curve".
Batrouni said AI tools offered great potential to the council, especially for dealing with simpler customer contact enquiries, which could free up staff to handle more complex matters, such as social services cases. However, at a subsequent cabinet meeting, he told colleagues he wanted to avoid a situation where the council was using AI to respond to AI-generated enquiries.
Concerns over volume and resources
Cllr Yvonne Forsey said the growing use of AI could create "significant challenges", because communications could be produced "quickly and in large volumes". She warned that dealing with a mountain of AI-generated content could "divert time and resources" from "genuine concerns and delivering services".
Batrouni described the potential risks as a "public service problem". "It increases the volume and complexity of the stuff that comes in," he said. "There needs to be a public service discussion... about how we address this. I think this is the start of the wave."
In October, Rhondda Cynon Taf council said the number of interactions with its social services customer feedback team increased by 10% in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25, rising from 735 to 814.
