Hong Kong’s 1823 public enquiry service plans to use artificial intelligence to identify and prioritise cases more quickly, with the Digital Policy Office expecting its email-analysis and triage function to reduce the time involved from about two days to several hours.
The service handled more than 7.5 million enquiries and complaints last year, according to the office. Separately, i-CABLE News reported about 3.5 million cases requiring staff handling, including roughly 2.5 million phone enquiries and 1 million email requests. The figures are presented using different breakdowns, so their statistical relationship is unclear.
The four planned upgrades will transcribe calls into text in real time and generate case summaries; extract complaint details from emails; analyse emails to identify cases needing priority treatment; and combine data on public concerns for analysis.
The office expects the call-transcription function to reduce post-call case-processing time by 15 per cent, while the email-extraction function could cut the time staff spend entering data by 30 per cent. The email-analysis and triage function is expected to reduce the time needed to identify or prioritise cases from around two days to several hours.
Ming Pao reported that the four projects are expected to be introduced progressively in the second half of 2026. 1823 already uses an AI case-distribution engine to route complaints, and the Digital Policy Office said it would continue refining the system with case data, departmental feedback and public enquiries.
The government also plans to launch an AI assistant through the iAM Smart platform this year, providing support around the clock. The office is developing an online version of 1823 so residents can access the service through iAM Smart without downloading the 1823 application.
In the fourth quarter of 2026, the office plans to trial an AI agent capable of understanding a goal, planning independently and completing multi-step tasks such as checking documents, writing summaries and searching. Officials said the trial would be conducted in a safe and controlled way before any gradual expansion to other government departments.