Study Finds AI Linked to Surges in Government Service Filings

A new study has identified 84 cases across 11 jurisdictions where the use of artificial intelligence tools is linked to significant surges in filings to government services, a phenomenon researchers have termed "agentic flooding." The research, which will be presented at the AAAI Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society in October 2026, documents how AI is making it easier for people to complete forms, prepare complaints, and submit claims, leading to sharp increases in demand for public services. The study found that in 58 of the 84 cases, a government official explicitly attributed the increase in filings to AI. The pattern is evident in multiple countries. In the United Kingdom, complaints to the housing ombudsman rose from approximately 2,600 in 2022 to over 7,000 in 2025. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recorded roughly five times as many complaints over the same period. Similar increases were noted in petitions to the Brazilian judiciary and the German parliament. The research, co-authored by Chris Schmitz, Lewis Hammond, and Alan Chan, analyzed a dataset of 2,288 government services across 12 countries but retained only 84 cases that met strict criteria.