• People have low trust that the public sector will use AI responsibly, but more than half think that public approval matters when deciding if an AI technology should be rolled out
• The Centre for Collective Intelligence’s ‘social readiness’ process helps increase public trust and confidence towards AI tools in the public sector.
• Following consultation, many thought that Magic Notes – an AI tool for social workers that creates transcripts from audio recordings and summarises meetings could help improve social care services
• This is part of the Centre for Collective Intelligence’s work to involve everyday people in assessing the ‘social readiness’ of AI tools that are used within the public sector.

London, UK - Less than half (40%) of the UK public trust the public sector to use AI responsibly, Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence (CCI) finds today.

The Centre, through its AI Social Readiness Advisory Label, involves the public in assessing the benefits and risks of AI tools being used by the public sector. They commissioned Opinium Research to survey more than 2,000 adults on their attitudes towards the use of AI in different public services, from health to transport and social care to defence, to inform their work on the ‘social readiness’ of AI tools.

Almost half (41%) said that AI is dangerous and should not be used in the public sector as opposed to a third (29%) that felt AI should be widely adopted. People were most supportive of AI being used within the NHS (38%), transport (37%) and education (36%) and least supportive of AI within policing (28%) defence (28%) and social care (29%).

When asked what is more important when deciding to roll out an AI tool, people valued the public feeling supportive of the technology (46%) over saving money (18%). Labour (56%) voters were the most likely to prioritise public support, while 28% of Conservatives would prefer greater cost savings. More than half (52%) think the public should be consulted before the introduction of AI in the public sector, while only 20% want these decisions left to the experts.

A separate public consultation by CCI, however, found that their AI Social Readiness Assessment can help overcome initial feelings of unease towards AI tools in the public sector. A series of deliberative workshops about Magic Notes, an AI transcription and summarisation technology developed by UK company Beam, found overwhelming support for social workers using the technology. Only 13% of people reported feeling satisfied with the current social care process, recognising the need for improvement. After consultation, 74% thought that the benefits of the AI tool outweighed the risks.

Involving social care service users in research piloting the technology, working with local authorities to develop “top-up” training and developing tool features that require social workers to complete detailed review are among the recommendations that Nesta made for Beam to further increase public confidence in the technology. Councils looking to deploy the tool should develop protocols for consent, encourage feedback from staff, and monitor the impact of Magic Notes on waiting lists, the experience of service users, and long-term job satisfaction of social workers.

Kathy Peach, Director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence (CCI) at Nesta said: “The government's AI Adoption plan is bound to fail unless there's public support for AI in public services. Our AI Social Readiness Advisory offers a way to build public confidence and trust, helping people to overcome initial concerns they may have about a tool. This is especially important in public service areas like social care that have a lot to gain from AI, but where low public support for the use of AI might be stalling deployment.”

Rachel Astall, Chief Customer Officer at Beam, said: "Responsible use of AI is central to how we build and deliver technology at Beam. We were encouraged to see that 86% of the public and people who access social care felt that Magic Notes would benefit social care as a whole. The process surfaced thoughtful, practical suggestions for further improving the use of AI tools, and gave us a clear sense of what earns public confidence. We think it’s important that the public are consulted on how AI is used in public service delivery and we hope more organisations will take similar steps."

Notes to editors

1. The Opinium UK Political Omnibus surveyed 2,050 UK adults (18 and over). Results are weighted to be nationally and politically representative where relevant.
2. The AI Social Readiness Assessment for Magic Notes was carried out by Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence. The process involved 137 members of the UK public, through 18 deliberative polling workshops lasting approximately 3.5 hours each. The results of the AI Social Readiness process are translated into an easy-to-understand Label for public sector leaders and a report. The Nesta team is working on putting other public sector AI tools through this process over the coming months.
3. For more information on the analysis or to speak to one of the experts involved, please contact Kieran Lowe, Media Manager, on 020 7438 2576 or [email protected]. Spokespeople are available for broadcast interviews.

About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation that designs, tests and scales solutions for the biggest challenges of our time.

Driven by a vision to improve the lives of millions of people, our focus up to 2030 is on three missions: breaking the link between family background and life chances, halving obesity and cutting household carbon emissions.

We work with partners to develop high-potential solutions and test them as they evolve, drawing on expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, data science, behavioural science and design.

Once confident in the effectiveness of a solution, we take it to scale. We create national policy proposals, develop consumer-facing products and services, build and spin out commercial ventures and harness the power of the arts.

We work with two specialised units: BIT applies a deep understanding of human behaviour to help clients achieve their goals. Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society. Find out more at nesta.org.uk

About the Centre for Collective Intelligence

The Centre for Collective Intelligence is an enterprise incubated by Nesta. They use technology, AI, arts and design to scale public engagement - making it faster, more inclusive, more engaging and more impactful.