Government to give unemployed AI chatbot helper for 'boring' job applications

The Government is set to unveil plans to roll out an "AI helper" to aid unemployed people.

This comes as Britain’s unemployment rate hit a near four-year high amid worries over soaring employee costs for companies.

The number of people claiming universal credit has hit a record high of eight million, a jump by more than a million in a year.

However, the new AI scheme could flood employers with irrelevant job applications, critics warn.

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On Monday, The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are poised invite AI companies to help develop the "agent" that can fill in forms, complete job applications and even register patients at doctors’ surgeries.

Other features could include updating addresses on driving licences and registering to vote.

The "agent" chatbot is expected to be ready for use in 2027.

The initiative was designed to “save people time and modernise the state”, officials say.

Claire McCartney, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, told The Telegraph: “When used appropriately, AI tools can be a useful aid for jobseekers"

Despite this, “if candidates heavily rely on or misuse AI tools, it could mean that they’re unsuitable for the roles they’ve applied for.”

Ms McCartney said a quarter of companies were attempting to reduce or monitor the use of AI by applicants.

Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, explained: “If you are advertising a job you will get hundreds more CVs than a few years ago and a large number will demonstrate they haven’t really thought about the job.

“They have done 50 applications in a couple of days where previously they’d have done 10 good ones.”

The Government said the AI "agent" would be optional to use.

It is the first in what is expected to be an effort to encourage British companies to develop bots that can make public services more efficient.

Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, said: “We can entirely rethink and reshape how public services help people through crucial life moments using the power of emerging AI technology.

“Using agentic AI to its full potential, we could provide a level of service to citizens across the country that was previously unimaginable – helping people to find better career opportunities, avoid wasting their time on government admin and more.”

Britain could be the “first country in the world to use AI agents at scale”, he said.