Hong Kong lawmakers say enhanced AI could speed up complaint handling, but expert warns agentic systems pose privacy and automated error risks
Deploying artificial intelligence on Hong Kong’s 1823 complaint platform will reduce public frustration and strengthen governance, but authorities must also guard against privacy leaks, lawmakers and an expert have said.
They described the AI measures announced on Thursday as a step in the right direction, saying the technology could reduce residents’ waiting times and help direct cases to the appropriate departments.
“In the past, residents often complained that their cases were assigned to the wrong authorities,” technology-sector lawmaker Duncan Chiu said, noting that complex issues – such as fallen trees on boundaries between private and public lands – frequently led to interdepartmental confusion.
“If AI can guide phone operators to ask a few more targeted questions to gather better clues, it can lead to much clearer triage and save residents significant time.”
The Digital Policy Office, which operates Hong Kong’s 1823 inquiry and complaint platform, said on Thursday that it would expand its use of artificial intelligence to help staff transcribe residents’ calls, summarise emails and log information in its system.
It said it would also use AI to triage complex and urgent cases for experienced staff to forward to the relevant departments, while collecting and summarising emerging district governance issues identified through residents’ complaints.