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Artificial Intelligence and civil servants

In my opinion, the biggest change to the world over the next five years will be the application of AI to government services.  Let's be honest here, Governments provide services, much of which are pushing bits of paper from  A to B.   A lot of the "work" is a reflection of a world before computers.   If an accountant, trader, banker and a lawyer can be replaced by AI then civil servants should be the first to go.   

From my experience (and it has been limited) the vast majority of civil servants are there to collect and collate information, and disseminate the results of new rules and laws as drafted by politicians and senior civil servants.

In a nut shell, probably in excess of 40% of current civil servants could be replaced by AI.   Now, the tricky part, as the US government has recently discovered, is who are the essential bits and who are the redundant bits.  Part of the problem is identifying the right one, and again this is where AI can be transformative.   We are not only talking at the federal level but at all levels of government.  The reality of the matter is that "real problems" only consume 5% of the energy of civil servants.  

On a personal note, I saw "real civil servants" on a weekly basis on my farm.  When we had a contamination problem a few years ago after some Greenpeace activists invaded our sheep paddock, the specialists were there on a Sunday…and that's the key.   They guys who come on a farm on a Sunday evening, are not working 60 hours a week but are essential.  When we had contamination problems with our milk, again the government's civil servants proved very useful.  However, when I pay taxes there is no real reason to have to meet with anyone.  This can all be done electronically with zero human intervention.   

My point is as follows, the Western world is facing a labour shortage, the reality is that if we reduce the civil service numbers by 40% the problem will be resolved for the next decade or two.  Governments have to learn to do the "old things" in a new way.  Also to give an order of proportion, there are currently 34 million civil servants in the United Kingdom.  

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