The UK’s Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has successfully used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the results of a complex survey on high-rise buildings for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) . This project transformed unstructured survey responses into valuable, actionable insights for government policymaking.
Turning Words into Data with AI
The survey was unique because it didn’t just collect numbers; it also included free-text responses to capture more detailed and nuanced information. The main challenge was to make sense of this unstructured text data.
GAD employed AI to process these free-text answers, converting them into structured data. This standardization allowed for a more robust and thorough analysis, unlocking insights that would have been difficult to find otherwise. This process helped create clear, actionable information to guide policy development .
Interactive Dashboard for Deeper Insights
To make the analyzed data accessible and useful, GAD collaborated with MHCLG to create an interactive dashboard. This tool allows officials to explore the data in-depth and uncover important trends and patterns.
The dashboard enables users to:
- Drill down into specific topics of interest .
- Identify variations across different geographic areas .
- Visualize how trends have changed over time.
By presenting complex information in a compelling and easy-to-understand format, the dashboard empowers decision-makers to engage with the data directly.
Collaboration and Positive Outcomes
A key to the project’s success was the collaboration between a diverse group of specialists, including actuaries, policy officials, economists, and delivery experts. This multidisciplinary approach ensured the analysis was both technically sound and relevant to various policy needs.
The project’s findings have already had a direct impact on MHCLG’s policies, helping to evaluate different options and their cost-effectiveness. The use of generative AI and modern data visualization techniques also led to significant efficiency savings.
Jonathan Day, the actuary who led the project, highlighted the success of the collaboration, stating: “The project showcased the effectiveness of using multidisciplinary teams from across government to overcome complex problems.” This improved understanding will allow for more targeted and effective government interventions in the future.
