AI Agents Are Flooding Public Services with New Requests
“The vast majority of cases we find are people who are entitled to claim for something, claiming for that thing,” the researcher told TechCrunch.
TL;DR
- Public services globally are experiencing a massive increase in applications and requests due to AI tools making it easier to file them.
- In the UK, housing ombudsman complaints more than doubled, and the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau saw a 5x growth in complaints.
- Researcher Chris Schmitz calls this phenomenon 'agentic flooding' and finds broad evidence of AI changing interactions with public services.
- While some filings may be adversarial, many are legitimate claims that were previously too burdensome for individuals to pursue.
- Schmitz believes this surge presents an opportunity to redesign public services for the AI era, making them more accessible and efficient.