Enfield Council recruits its first robot worker: AI-powered Amelia

Aim is to deliver better services to residents without increasing costs, says council chief

Enfield Council's latest recruit is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered cognitive customer service agent, dubbed Amelia.

Amelia uses cognitive computing and natural language analysis to understand the context of queries, apply logic to questions, learn from experience and resolve problems. The system can also sense emotions, according to IPsoft, the company that created it.

The AI will be used to help Enfield residents locate information and complete standard applications, and simplify some of the council's internal processes.

Amelia will provide self-certification for planning and authenticate applications for permits and licences when it is put into operation in the autumn.

Rob Leak, chief executive at Enfield Council, explained that Amelia will improve the council's ability to deliver services without having to recruit new staff.

"This is a very exciting opportunity to deliver better services to residents without increasing costs," he said.

The use of Amelia in the public sector is indicative of the digital transformations underway at such organisations to boost the way they operate and deliver services. It also heralds the beginning of an era where robots start to replace human workers.

This is not new, given that there are fully automated AI-powered coffee shops in London, but Amelia's use in a public sector organisation shows that AI can replace, or at least work alongside, human workers in a sector that has traditionally been reticent in adopting cutting-edge technology.

Such situations could raise concerns that robot systems will force human workers out of a job, but automation has done this before on assembly lines in the manufacturing industry, for example.

And in many cases the working environment for humans has simply evolved with the creation of new jobs that AIs and robots cannot perform.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that the social media company was working on AI systems that are better than humans when it comes to primary senses such as vision and hearing.