The UK government is trialling a new AI tool in 25 local councils to cut down the amount of admin tasks.

The tool, called Minute, has been used to take notes in meetings including one chaired by the prime minister.

As well as using generative AI (genAI) to turn meetings into notes, the technology can also help tweak and correct summaries more efficiently.

Early tests of the tool showed that officials saved one hour of admin per one hour meeting on average, with nearly half of them saying notetaking is the least enjoyable part of their job.

The government said Minute, which is part of the Humphrey suite of AI tools built to help civil servants, is being used for different tasks such as streamlining admin tasks in the planning process for building homes.

It added that the new tool could help to speed up actions after planning meetings, allowing officials to focus on the task at hand, rather than paperwork, and make informed decisions to get homes built.

Minute is also being used to take detailed notes in meetings between social care workers and their supervisors, which the government said enables workers to focus on offering more support.

“From parking permits and planning permission, local councils handle some of the services that impact our daily lives most and for too long, they have been left to fend for themselves when keeping up with rapid innovations in AI and digital technology – when we know it has huge potential to help solve many of the challenges they face,” said Feryal Clark, AI and digital government minister. “That’s why Humphrey, a suite of exciting AI tools built in my department, is being sent to townhalls to help them fast track planning decisions, build 1.5 million homes and take meeting notes more quickly.

“This is just the first step as we are also going to work with local councils to help them buy and build the technology they need to deliver our Plan for Change and support their local communities more effectively.”

Earlier this month, the Scottish government announced it had trialled an AI tool to summarise responses to a live consultation for the first time.

The tool, called Consult, provided nearly identical results to those from officials.

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