UK Police To Trial AI 'Agents' Responding To Non-Emergency Calls

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Call-handling agents powered by AI are to be trialled by Staffordshire Police in a bid to cut waiting times for the non-emergency 101 service. The force is set to become the third in the country to take part in the scheme testing the use of artificial 'agents' to deal with calls. Under the system, the AI agent would deal with simple queries like requests for information without the need for human involvement, freeing up call handlers and reducing answering times.

Acting Chief Constable Becky Riggs confirmed the force would be looking to launch the AI pilot early in the new year. 'It's a piece of technology called Agentforce. It will help with our response to the public, which historically we know we haven't done well.' The senior officer said that sometimes people are not calling to report a crime, but want more information, which the technology could help with. However, if the system detects keywords suggesting vulnerability or risk or emergency, then it will be able to divert the call to a human being.

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