Digital Where Possible, Human Where It Matters
Updated: Aug 22
At a Think Digital Government discussion at the end of last year, Julian Patmore, Service Director, Digital & Customer Access at Peterborough City Council, made a key contribution to the conversation on AI in public services centres. He stated a principle that should guide every transformation programme, “digital where possible, but human where it matters”. It is a practical reminder that public-sector AI should improve people’s experience of services, not create distance between residents and the support they need.
The discussion was exploring the direction of travel, with public-service leaders setting out priorities for using AI in a way that is purposeful, incremental and grounded in real service outcomes. Rather than pursuing “big bang” transformation, the discussion emphasised practical change that helps organisations build capability, confidence and trust.
Julian Patmore
Technology in Service of Outcomes
For councils and public-service organisations, AI should not be treated as an end in itself. The starting point should be the service challenge: where are residents facing avoidable friction, where are teams spending time on repetitive work, and where could better insight help people make faster, more informed decisions?
Used well, AI can support activities such as:
Reducing administrative burden by summarising, categorising and routing information.
Helping staff find relevant policies, procedures and case information more quickly.
Identifying patterns in service demand to support earlier intervention and better resource planning.
Improving the accessibility and consistency of routine digital interactions.
Creating capacity for professionals to focus on complex cases, safeguarding concerns and conversations that require judgement and empathy.
The opportunity is to make public services more responsive without losing the human relationships on which trust and good outcomes depend.
Human Judgement Remains Essential
Not every interaction should be automated. Many residents approach public services at moments of stress, uncertainty or vulnerability. In those circumstances, a well-designed digital route may help, but it cannot always replace skilled human judgement, reassurance or advocacy.
That is why Datnexa believes successful AI adoption must be rooted in human-centred service design. Teams need to understand who uses a service, what outcome they are trying to achieve, where exclusion risks may arise, and when a person must be able to access meaningful human support.
This is particularly important in services involving care, housing, benefits, safeguarding and community support. Technology can assist professionals and improve the consistency of routine processes, but accountability for consequential decisions must remain clear.
From Ambition to Practical Delivery
The Think Digital Partners coverage rightly foregrounds incremental transformation rather than a single, disruptive overhaul. Public bodies can build confidence and capability by beginning with defined, manageable use cases that have clear benefits, appropriate safeguards and measurable success criteria.
A practical approach includes:
Selecting a service problem with a demonstrable impact on residents or staff.
Assessing data quality, information governance, security and accessibility from the outset.
Involving frontline colleagues, service users and subject-matter experts in design and testing.
Establishing clear ownership, assurance and routes for human review.
Measuring outcomes - not simply usage - including time saved, service quality, equity and resident experience.
Scaling only where evidence shows that the solution is safe, effective and sustainable.
For example, an AI-enabled knowledge tool could help a customer-service adviser surface the right information during a call. It may reduce time spent searching across systems, but the adviser remains responsible for interpreting the resident’s circumstances, checking accuracy and deciding how best to help.
A Shared Direction for Public Services
The principle is not a choice between technology and people. It is about designing services in which each does what it does best.
At Datnexa, we see responsible AI as an enabler of better public services: helping organisations remove avoidable complexity, strengthen decision-making and create more capacity for meaningful human engagement. The measure of success is not how much technology has been deployed, but whether residents experience a service that is simpler, fairer and more effective.
