{"id":35284,"date":"2024-05-06T10:11:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T09:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=35284"},"modified":"2024-08-20T18:11:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T17:11:26","slug":"being-honest-about-ai-services-how-much-do-users-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/being-honest-about-ai-services-how-much-do-users-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Being honest about AI services: How much do users need to know?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may have seen, Caution Your Blast Ltd (CYB) is currently <\/span>working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)<\/span><\/a> on an exciting project that involves engineering Large Language Model (LLM) solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, we\u2019re building an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled service for GOV.UK that will help British people get information quickly and easily. There\u2019s so much to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Content Designer at CYB, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about how, where and why content fits into user-centred AI design. We know an important part of this project is that people need to trust they\u2019re getting the right information from the UK Government. As a team, we\u2019ve been asking one question in particular \u2013 do users need to know the project uses AI?<\/span><\/p>\n

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A project recap \u2013 AI helps people help themselves<\/h3>\n

At the moment, if people need help from the FCDO about living or travelling abroad, they can send an online enquiry. An agent at a contact centre responds by email within a few hours or days with the most relevant templated answer from a database of pre-written content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our AI-assisted tool will step in before someone sends an enquiry and try to find what they need instantly. When someone asks a question (or questions), the tool interprets what people are looking for, matches their question to the most relevant template and returns it straight away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the tool uses generative AI, it\u2019s not creating new content \u2013 there\u2019s no risk that it\u2019ll invent its own answers or give people incorrect information. We\u2019re using it to do the thinking, not the speaking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a search, either – the LLM is not trawling GOV.UK and returning results. This tool does what the FCDO contact centre staff do, but without the wait. Ultimately, it\u2019ll give contact centre staff space to support more vulnerable people.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What do users need to know about AI?<\/h3>\n

As part of the project, we\u2019ve talked a lot about how much we should tell people about the tech we use, and how that knowledge might affect the way they feel about and use our service. Do users need to know that the project is built using LLM tools? And what difference does it make if they do?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My first thoughts about revealing what\u2019s behind the magical AI curtain was: why tell people anything? We wouldn\u2019t normally reveal the tech behind digital services, so what makes this any different?<\/span><\/p>\n

My desk research didn\u2019t reveal much evidence about the best way for designers to approach the use of AI \u2013 most of what I found talked about chatbots in commercial settings, which is quite different to creating a government service. But one word that came up often was transparency. It seems clear that we should aim to be honest about what we\u2019re doing with AI \u2013 this will give our users a sense of control and choice, and allow them to feel included in the service we\u2019re creating.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Being honest with our users<\/h3>\n

So in normal circumstances, I am fairly sure the last thing any of us care about when we\u2019re looking for information from the government is the tech behind the answer. But, as we worked on the service, and tested each new iteration, we recognised some possible user benefits to being more honest about how we\u2019re using AI, including:<\/span><\/p>\n