How young people would use AI in the civil service

In partnership with:

We asked 100 SuperSquad Sherpees this question:

How might we transform the way our government works by using new technology

Introducing the HMRC / Accenture SuperSquad

But…what is a SuperSquad?

A practical, paid work experience programme where teens engage with real business and societal challenges.

This challenge brought together the expertise from the private and public sector with HMRC and GSS outlining the inner workings of the civil service, and Accenture inspiring them to think about emerging technologies

Over the 6 weeks, the Squad came up with 1,000 ideas, ranging from AI chatbots to policy simulators and safe street robots. This reflects a key principle of a SuperSquad; allowing space for the most diverse set of ideas to drive true innovation.

2,375
Student Hours (MAC 2.2)
£12,000
Paid into the teen economy
£6.24
Social Return on investment

Highlighted idea from the SuperSquad

OVERSEER AI – An AI that tests likely effects of new laws and legislation against different demographics of people to erase negative consequences before they arise.

The result:

Young people are keen to see AI used to streamline government services

There was some skepticism amongst the Squad as they embarked on the programme with:

– 56.4% wouldn’t describe the government as “modern”

– 63.6% didn’t feel the government served them as a young person

As with many of our Squads, safety and security was at the forefront of the young person’s thoughts. Ideas in this space included disaster alert technology and disaster preparedness apps. Tech accessibility was also a key theme and the Squad could easily connect the dots between AI and chat bots to support government functions, both externally facing support with the public but also internally to the civil service.

The Squad really engaged with the topic of AI and how it might be used to improve the way the government work.

The most exciting ideas were around bridging the gap between the government and the population. The VR sentiment tracker and OverseerAI both use emerging tech to interpret and predict the impact of policy change. As politics becomes increasingly divisive, it is encouraging to see young people looking for solutions to bring people together.

Interestingly a few weeks after the Squad finished, we were at Digital Commonwealth Mansion House Summit Series listening to Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth talk about the use of AI in government. She mentioned one great use case…a PolicyAI!

With students selected from

Oxclose Academy, Sunderland
Dulwich College, London
Hunterhouse College, Belfast
Outwood Academy, Middlesbrough
Harris CoE Academy, Rugby
Chase High School, Southend-on-Sea
Dalriada School, Causeway, NI
Bromley High School, Chislehurst
Crossley Heath School, Bradford
Ashby School, Ashby de la Zouch
Montpelier High School, Bristol
St Paul’s Academy, London

Testimonials

Hear what our clients and some of the students have to say about working with us…

Check our our social value pack

Contains a detailed overview of the programmes and a bid support appendix