The operator of the Hong Kong government’s 1823 platform will expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within this year to transcribe, summarise and triage residents’ inquiries, freeing frontline staff to handle more complicated cases.
The Digital Policy Office also said on Thursday that it would start exploring the application of agentic AI from the fourth quarter of this year and study how it should be expanded to other departments “with a safe and controlled approach”.
The government’s 1823 public inquiry service platform received over 7.5 million submissions from residents last year, with over half of them, or 4.1 million, resolved by automated services such as its AI text and audio chatbots.
Hong Kong’s acting commissioner for digital policy Daniel Cheung Yee-wai said the platform would extend its use of AI to help staff transcribe residents’ calls, summarise emails and log submissions to its system by the end of the year.
Cheung said the expansion would enable staff to dedicate more time to solving complex cases and better address residents’ needs.
“Our goal is to elevate the service quality so that residents could receive the service or answers they need. Cutting manpower demand is not our objective,” he said.
Simon Lam Kwok-wai, the office’s assistant commissioner on contact centre and change management, said he expected the technology to shorten handling time for calls and emails by 15 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
