WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

The London borough of Enfield has enlisted artificial intelligence Amelia to take on customer service tasks for its residents starting late this year.

Developed by IPSoft, Amelia is a cognitive agent – that’s bot to you, I and most people, capable of automating certain tasks as well as learning from its interactions. As to what makes Amelia a competent customer service asset to the council, IPSoft said in a statement that she is “capable of analysing natural language, she understands context, applies logic, learns, resolves problems and even senses emotions.”

Amelia currently handles cognitive customer experience for professional services company Accenture and financial consultancy firm Deloitte but this will be her first public sector outing.

“From Alexa to Viv, the world is now full of voice-enabled cloud-connected assistants. But Amelia is more than merely a series of speech-savvy algorithms — she’s Siri with a doctorate in psychology,” said IPsoft. She also speaks in natural human language.

IPsoft CEO Frank Lansink says that Amelia is the perfect solution to the changing demands of public services. She will be assisting residents in completing applications, finding information, and will help simplify the council’s internal processes. Plans to have Amelia streamline authentication of permits and license applications are also being considered.

Lansink says Amelia will drive costs down while providing residents better, effortless interaction at their own convenience.

“With the rise of powerful cognitive platforms such as Amelia, government organizations have an opportunity to completely reimagine how frontline public services are delivered.”