Labour is pledging to reform public services with Tech. But who should they listen to on how to do it?

Here we have a guest blog from Margaret, part of the Public Voices in AI People’s Advisory Group, a member of the People’s Panel on AI, and previous guest blogger on Baby Boomers and AI and a speech she made at the Turing UK AI Conference.

I was invited to take part in an on-line discussion earlier in the summer with regard to the above question, one which has significant implications for the public, and therefore is of great interest to me.

Then came a further opportunity, several weeks later, to become a member of the People’s Advisory Group for the “Public Voices in AI” project. Being selected for both of these amazing pieces of research is both thrilling and daunting in equal measure! I would never have envisaged having sufficient confidence to undertake such roles in earlier years, but since my first foray into citizen participation, back in 2020, with the People’s Jury on Climate Change, I found my voice. It surprised ME as much as anyone else, that I had so much to say across a wide variety of subjects, but I rapidly came to recognise the real NEED for public involvement in all of these matters.

So, I’m delighted to be given further opportunity to highlight issues facing members of my local community, representative, I’m certain of so many other areas of the UK, with a similarly older demographic. The Lancaster and Morecambe district has a predominantly elderly population, with a high number of retirement homes and care facilities: the overall level of understanding when it comes to technology is limited. For far too long, we, as merely ordinary people, have been told what to do. The idea of querying decisions made in high places, has never been an option. Organisations, such as Connected by Data, seek to remedy this, and to offer a way in. Without a platform from which to present thoughts, opinions and questions, as raised by the average member of the public, there is little an individual can achieve by way of implementing change. Public engagement and participation offers that platform, and I am both honoured and excited to speak from it at every available opportunity. I am passionate about representing views from the local community, in fact I consider it my duty to raise a voice from the Lancaster and Morecambe district whenever I can!

The ongoing number of conversations I have with local residents….at the bus stop, or whilst travelling, when queuing in the Post Office, or working in the busy tearoom where I spend my days….they all reinforce the need for non tech savvy people to have a spokesperson looking out for them, and I am repeatedly thanked for my interventions on their behalf.

Recently I campaigned with OVO energy to retain the right to continue paying bills by Giro at the Post Office outlet in our local branch of W.H. Smith. This was a deliberate protest against the company’s new policy to channel all their customers towards paying on-line, the text “Great news, you can now pay your bills on-line”, could be more accurately be translated as….”you can ONLY pay your bills on-line”! So on behalf of all those who would struggle to comply with this new directive, I had a long and very frustrating on-line discussion with a chatbot, before, finally, I was connected to a human voice, and insisted I had the right to choose how I pay my bills. It still isn’t easy, as Post Offices are no longer able to process energy payments (I haven’t checked the policy of other energy companies, although it may only be a matter of time…), and the one bank through which you can still pay is Barclays! They are currently in the process of closing most of their branches, and certainly the Lancaster branch no longer exists. So, the one remaining option is to locate the nearest Pay Point, usually in a small convenience store. This I shall continue to do as a matter of principle! I hope that in making a stand on this issue, I have helped other OVO customers retain their accustomed method of payment for as long as they need to.

Attempting to renegotiate an internet/broadband contract, is another perplexing activity. If I find it frustrating and difficult, I do wonder how other elderly customers with less knowledge than myself cope, when trying to obtain a fairer deal for the internet connection which clearly they need to survive in this tech orientated world. It’s a struggle to reach a human voice, for clarity and to reach affordable and understandable terms. On my last such venture, I was connected (eventually) to a Sky employee in South Africa, and I expressed concern over the difficulty faced by elderly people, trying to cope. He informed me that, looking ahead, there will soon no longer be any human interaction possible, the idea of discussing terms and conditions a thing of the past….an alarming development, and one, I suspect, that will lead to many older internet users paying much higher premiums than they need to. In their efforts to streamline procedures, these big tech companies need to show compassion and understanding for those amongst us for whom changes to routine cause confusion and anxiety.

As a general rule, older people don’t react well to change, and yet it’s this generation being required to accept and absorb the greatest level of it, as new technology emerges and takes over much of our lives. They didn’t grow up in a tech based society, so I find it completely understandable, that life is becoming increasingly difficult for them. Of course methods need to be updated, and made more efficient by use of modern technology, and for the younger majority, this is perfectly acceptable….but….all too often, I hear the following statements;

“I have to ring my daughter/ wait till my son comes round/ go round to the neighbour’s” for assistance with problems they never expected to face.

But not every older person has anybody to fall back on, not everyone has access to the internet, and they must feel bewildered beyond measure. Is this really acceptable? I know I’ve said all this before, but I continue to feel strongly about these issues, and as yet I see no signs of improvement for the older generation, so we need to keep banging this particular drum!!

Of course, lack of, or limited tech knowledge isn’t restricted to the older section of society. I’ve spoken to people in their 40’s and 50’s who aren’t really clued up on how things can or will change. They’re all too familiar with the “bad” stuff, as social media and TV channels are keen to document fake news and disinformation, but it wouldn’t be good for their first real introduction to be upon learning their job is going to disappear!

So, on the subject of who Sir Keir Starmer should listen to, well he should start by listening to us.

On his government will fall the responsibility of ensuring all those recommendations identified by the People’s Panel, are taken into account at all times in relation to all areas being taken over, either fully or in part, by AI. We need to protect our fellow citizens against unregulated advancements that we might not necessarily consider progress, such as the dangers of unmonitored on-line sites, or the harmful distribution of private data. It is rather alarming that little importance was given to such matters within the Labour party manifesto (or any of the others for that matter) And yet over the next 5 years there will be continually increasing development (much of it favourable….earlier detection of many major diseases for one thing) and these changes are to be welcomed.

But the Public Voice needs to be constant throughout, our involvement should be ongoing!