What can AI do for government?
At a municipality, province, water board or executive agency, AI takes over the recurring reading, writing and lookup work: answering resident questions, taking in reports, checking applications for completeness and summarizing documents. Decisions on permits, benefits and services are made by a civil servant.
Many questions to a municipality have a fixed answer that is already on the website or in a bylaw. How to apply for a passport, where to report a broken street light, which documents belong with an application. That is work with fixed steps and your own sources, and AI is suited to it.
There are two ways to approach it. Employees use an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude for texts and summaries, under a business agreement held by the organization. Or you have an AI agent set up: a digital worker that is connected to your systems and handles questions on its own. What that is, is explained in what is an AI agent.
Which tasks does an AI agent take over at a municipality?
At a municipality, an AI agent takes over four kinds of tasks: answering resident questions, taking in reports about public space, preparing applications and searching policy and regulations internally.
Answering resident questions
A resident asks via the website or WhatsApp how applying for a passport works, what the opening hours are or where to get an extract. The agent looks up the answer in the texts of your own website and refers to the page it comes from. It recognizes different wordings of the same question.
Needed: the current texts of your website and your product catalogue. Human check: questions about a personal file, complaints and objections go to an employee. Spot-check part of the answers.
More about this use case is in AI agent for customer service.
Taking in reports about public space
A fallen tree, a skipped waste container, a loose paving stone. The agent asks for the location and the type of report, sends a confirmation and passes the report on to the right department.
Needed: your report categories and the department that belongs to each category. Human check: the department assesses the urgency and schedules the handling. Reports about danger or nuisance caused by people go straight to an employee.
Preparing applications
Someone wants to build a dormer or organize an event. The agent explains which steps the procedure has and which documents belong with the application. For a submitted application it checks whether all attachments are present and prepares an overview for the case handler.
Needed: the description of the procedure and the list of required documents per type of application. Human check: the case handler assesses the application and makes the decision. The same applies in social services: the agent gives information about the steps of an application for support under the Dutch Social Support Act (Wmo), and the consultant holds the conversation and assesses entitlement.
Searching policy and regulations internally
Employees ask the agent questions about bylaws, policy rules and work instructions. The agent searches the documents and names the document and the article with every answer.
Needed: the applicable versions of your bylaws, policy rules and work instructions. Human check: the employee reads the source before using the answer in a letter or decision.
What can civil servants do themselves with an AI assistant?
With an AI assistant under a business agreement, civil servants can do four tasks faster themselves, without integrations:
- Rewrite a letter in plain language
- Summarize a long policy document for a meeting
- Draft an answer to a frequently asked question
- Turn meeting notes into a report with the agreements made
The Dutch government-wide position does not allow civil servants to use generative AI under consumer terms, including for individual use. So work with the application your organization has procured. Check every summary against the source text: a language model can leave out a condition or copy a deadline incorrectly. What is a prompt explains how to write a good instruction.
Which rules apply to AI in government?
Four frameworks apply to AI in Dutch government: the government-wide position on generative AI, the GDPR, the EU AI Act and the Algorithm Register. This describes what those rules ask for, as of October 2026. Put your own situation to your lawyer, privacy officer or data protection officer.
Government-wide position on generative AI. The position of April 2025 applies to all Dutch government organizations that procure, develop or use generative AI, and also to external parties that deliver services to them. Use is allowed if you comply with existing legislation, the purpose is clear, a risk analysis has been carried out and the right roles are involved in the decision. When procuring, you make agreements with the supplier about data sharing, data retention and whether models may be trained on user input. The position recommends applications developed and managed in Europe.
GDPR. Questions and reports from residents contain personal data. If a processing operation is likely to result in a high risk for the people involved, you carry out a DPIA beforehand (Article 35). The position names the DPIA as an assessment instrument for the risk analysis. What else you arrange is described in using AI in a GDPR-proof way.
EU AI Act. AI systems that public authorities use to assess whether someone is entitled to essential benefits and services are listed in Annex III as high-risk. Since the amendment of July 2026, those rules apply from 2 December 2027. The transparency rules have applied since 2 August 2026: a resident must know they are communicating with an AI system. Since 2 February 2025, organizations that deploy AI ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff. The dates and obligations are in the EU AI Act explained.
Algorithm Register. On algoritmes.overheid.nl, Dutch government organizations publish information about the algorithms they use. The register is intended for impactful algorithms, such as algorithms that influence decisions about residents. Check for each application whether your organization registers it.
| Use | Who decides | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| General resident questions | The agent informs | State that the resident is communicating with AI |
| Report about public space | The department | Ask only for the data needed |
| Completeness of an application | The case handler | The decision stays with a civil servant |
| Entitlement to a benefit or service | The consultant | High-risk under the AI Act |
| Internal search in policy | The employee | Read the source before use |
How do you start with AI at a government organization?
You start with one task where the agent gives information and an employee decides.
Step 1: choose the task. General resident questions or internal search in policy are suitable starting points, because the answer can be checked and no decision is attached to it.
Step 2: do the risk analysis. Involve your privacy officer, your information security officer and your lawyer. Record the purpose and check whether a DPIA is needed.
Step 3: record agreements with the supplier. Arrange in writing where the data is stored, how long it is kept and that input is not used to train models.
Step 4: test with existing questions. Put last month's questions to the agent and compare the answers with what your employees answered.
Step 5: start on one channel and read along. Start on the website, for example. Keep phone and counter available for residents who want to speak to an employee. Review part of the conversations during the first weeks and expand after that.
Frequently asked questions
Are Dutch civil servants allowed to use ChatGPT for their work? The government-wide position of April 2025 allows generative AI under conditions, such as a risk analysis and agreements with the supplier. Use under consumer terms is not allowed for civil servants, including for individual use. Work with the application your organization has procured.
Is AI allowed to decide on a benefit or permit? As a main rule, Article 22 of the GDPR prohibits fully automated decisions with far-reaching effects on a person. AI that assesses entitlement to essential benefits and services is high-risk under the EU AI Act. Have a civil servant make the decision.
Does AI at a municipality fall under the EU AI Act? Yes. Transparency rules have applied since 2 August 2026 to AI that communicates with residents. For high-risk uses, such as assessing entitlement to benefits and services, the rules apply from 2 December 2027.
What is the Dutch Algorithm Register? The Algorithm Register on algoritmes.overheid.nl is the central register in which Dutch government organizations publish information about the algorithms they use. It is intended for impactful algorithms, such as algorithms that influence decisions about residents.
What does AI cost for a government organization? A 1-on-1 AI training costs from €449 excl. VAT. The implementation of an AI agent starts from €1,495 one-time, on invoice (as of October 2026). Read more about what an AI agent costs.
Using AI in your organization?
Curious what a digital worker can concretely do for government organizations? Check our AI agent for government organizations or read what an AI agent costs. Rather upskill your team first? Our 1-on-1 AI training covers that. Or book a free intro call.
