Council uses AI to tackle AI-generated complaints

A council is using AI tools to respond to a spiraling number of complaints, which it says are written with the help of AI.

Both Wiltshire Council and Stroud District Council in Gloucestershire have noticed more people using AI tools to write complaints, leading to more of them.

Wiltshire Council received 783 formal complaints during 2025-26, a 27% rise from the previous year, and in a report Stroud councilors said AI was making complaints "more complex".

Perry Homes, Wiltshire Council's director of legal and governance, said the council was exploring how "emerging technologies" could support a "more efficient and responsive" complaints process.

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During a review of Wiltshire Council's Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report, councillors were told AI is changing the way Wiltshire residents complain, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service .

AI-generated submissions are often much longer and can include, according to Wiltshire Council, "factual inaccuracies or information that does not fully reflect an individual's circumstances".

"This highlights how technology is changing the way people interact with organisations and the need for public services to adapt," Homes said.

The council said it was responding by embracing the technology itself and exploring ways AI can streamline complaint administration.

Councillor Ruth Hopkinson said: "The thought of AI-generated complaints being responded to by AI-generated responses makes my blood turn cold."

However Homes said any use of AI was intended to "assist" staff, "not replace them", with "appropriate human oversight".

Adult Social Care attracted the highest number of complaints in Wiltshire, with 158 cases, followed by Families and Children, Education and Skills and Housing Services.

Despite the increase in workload, Wiltshire Council said complaints handling performance had improved, with responses issued within target timescales having increased.

In Stroud, the council received more than 620 complaints in the last year, with 55% of them responded to within the councils published service standards.

In an Audit and Standards Committee meeting later, Stroud District Council will be discussing AI.

The itinerary says officers have noticed more complaints using AI and that it will "continue to monitor impact and review process and policy to maintain effective service delivery".

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