As a passionate supporter of AI, one might expect the UK’s AI Minister to be an avid user of ChatGPT and other popular AI chatbots during his ministerial duties, perhaps to increase day-to-day productivity or to keep abreast of the latest technological advances.
But a Freedom of Information (FoI) request says Kanishka Narayan has not used ChatGPT, which has more than 1 billion active users, Claude or other popular AI chatbots for ministerial work since he became AI minister in September last year.
The request also reveals that Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has not used ChatGPT or any other AI chatbot in her ministerial work since she was appointed to the role in September 2025. The FoI was requested on 23 April. But Narayan, a former venture capitalist who worked in Silicon Valley, uses ChatGPT for “core research” and background information for personal use, the Telegraph previously reported.
Narayan called on MPs to stop using ChatGPT to write parliamentary speeches, following analysis that MPs are increasingly using chatbots made by OpenAI to write speeches. Like Narayan, Kendall also uses AI outside of work.
“Well, I use AI personally, not professionally, to be honest,” Kendall previously told the BBC. Kendall’s predecessor, Peter Kyle, used ChatGPT for policy advice and asked which podcasts he should appear on. Narayan and Kendall may have shunned AI chatbots in their cabinet work, but government officials are expected to make use of AI.
Governments are also deploying AI to modernize public services and improve the productivity of civil servants. The government says Consult, an AI tool designed to speed up public consultations, has sped up the analysis of more than 50,000 responses to the government-commissioned water sector review.
A government spokesperson said: “Although the Secretary of State and AI Ministers do not personally use chatbots in their official work, they do use a range of AI tools to support the work they direct. AI has the potential to save time in daily tasks and reduce administrative burden for civil servants. Ministers are focused on steering that work and making the final decisions – just as the public has come to expect.”
