I wish to inform the House of the findings from the recent Microsoft 365 Copilot experiment —a landmark Government artificial intelligence experiment, which demonstrates this Government’s bold commitment to harnessing cutting-edge technology to transform public service delivery and gain better value for the taxpayer.
The Government Digital Service led this cross-Government experiment using an AI-powered assistant from September to December 2024, involving 20,000 civil servants across 12 major Government organisations. The experiment used a robust methodology to evaluate whether AI tools could:
improve user satisfaction at work
reduce effort required to complete tasks
improve task quality
reduce time spent on routine activities
The eye-opening findings report will be published shortly on
www.gov.uk, and will show that AI tools are liberating civil servants from repetitive administrative tasks, so that they can unleash their talents on strategic priorities that deliver greater value for Britain and British taxpayers.
Key findings
The most common benefits reported were increased productivity and reduced time searching for information. Importantly, many users indicated that productivity gains allowed them to spend more time on strategic and satisfying tasks.
Data received from the 12 participating Departments indicates a strong impact on time savings, with people saving an average of 26 minutes per day. Users reported increased work quality and motivation, as well as improving employee experience. In particular:
Adoption and usage: The experiment achieved an impressive 83% adoption rate within the first month. Adoption levels of around 80% were maintained throughout the experiment.
Time savings: the tool has a strong impact on time savings, with people saving an average of 26 minutes per day. More than a third of users reported to have saved more than half an hour a day.
User satisfaction: Users display a strong value attachment to using the tool and reported it increased work quality and motivation. 85% of users agree that the AI tool provides good value to the organisation. 82% of users would not want to go back to working without using an AI assistant.
Limitations: 17% of users did not notice any clear time savings. Professions that saved the least amount of time were those with the lowest satisfaction scores.
Conclusions: Priority should now be given to implementing an AI tool with groups showing the highest and lowest time savings, to better understand the tool’s impact and limitations across diverse user segments and professions. Priority should also be given to exploring how AI tools can improve accessibility, on which we have got some anecdotal evidence, and implementing benefits tracking for deeper insights.
This experiment is just one example of how we are using technology to drive far-reaching reform across the public sector. By putting the power of AI to work for the British people, we are creating a Government who are more efficient, responsive, and equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century, aligning with our broader vision set out in “A blueprint for modern digital government” to harness the power of AI for public good.
In line with our commitment to AI adoption in the public sector, we will take these findings forward through the newly established AI adoption unit within the Government Digital Service, which will build and deploy AI into public services, grow AI capacity and capability across Government, and ensure trust, responsibility and accountability in all we do. As part of this work, we are exploring a range of AI tools to assess their benefits, recognising that different AI tools and technologies may add more or less value depending on the use case.
We will continue to update the House on our progress as we work to make Government more efficient, responsive, and fit for the digital age.
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