How can the government’s new AI chatbot help small businesses?

The UK government is testing a new AI chatbot to help small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of starting and running a business. You might be one of the 15,000 early access users who have already used the tool to seek advice on topics ranging from business rules to tax.

While still in a trial phase, the chatbot promises to offer an accessible way for business owners to get the support they need from GOV.UK. For example, you can ask a question — what is public liability insurance? — and you’ll get a concise, specific answer. Given the sheer volume of content on GOV.UK, it’s a resource likely to be well received.

But what makes this AI chatbot stand out? The answer lies not just in what the tool promises to deliver, but in the bigger problem it aims to address.

A much-needed resource for small businesses

Small business owners routinely have to juggle numerous responsibilities, leaving them with little time to keep up with tasks like finding new funding opportunities or understanding insurance policies. The day-to-day demands of running a business make it difficult to allocate time for research or strategic planning, which can result in missed opportunities or costly mistakes.

And this brings us nicely to the reason why the government’s new tool has been designed at all.

The reality is that its existence is necessary because, as any small or aspiring business owner will attest, launching a company is rarely simple. This bot highlights the complexity and overwhelming nature of the business landscape. For entrepreneurs, navigating the vast amount of information, guidance, regulations, and documentation can feel like a daunting, potentially insurmountable challenge. And that needs to change.

Simplified, time-saving resources, such as AI chatbots or comparison tools, could help owners quickly access the information and solutions they need, reducing the time spent navigating various complexities.

A shortcut to business knowledge

Built using OpenAI's GPT-4 technology, the government’s chatbot pulls information from over 700,000 pages of GOV.UK content, offering personalised responses designed to help users quickly find information.

Though billed as an ‘AI’ tool, the chatbot is less about groundbreaking AI capabilities and more about simplifying website navigation. It provides shortcuts and immediate access to specific, correlated information – something that’s invaluable to budding and current business owners.

Questions are addressed using data pulled from GOV.UK’s extensive database, then condensed into digestible chunks, enabling users to clarify details that, otherwise, could have been tricky to find. However, the bot — in its current form, at least — is not without its limitations.

Despite exclusively linking to GOV.UK content, early stage users are being advised to keep a close eye on the results. A message displayed during the current trial highlights a key concern with AI tools: hallucinations. In this context, hallucinations are when AI generates incorrect or misleading information, but presents it as if it’s entirely factual.

The recommended solution, as suggested by GOV.UK, is to check any linked page in full to verify the accuracy of the information. This slightly undermines the chatbot's primary purpose of providing quick guidance, but given it’s still in the early stages of its life, this could — and undoubtedly will — improve over time.

Empowering small business owners

Small business owners are already juggling enough – managing daily operations, dealing with financial pressures, and handling customer relations. They shouldn’t also have to navigate overly complicated, jargon-filled websites to find relevant tax information, choose the right business credit card, or secure the insurance they need. Simplicity and ease of use are crucial.

The creation of the government’s chatbot is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, offering a more accessible way to find essential information that would otherwise be buried under layers of complexity. Business owners, like everyone else, need direction and assistance. They need to trust the information they receive and feel confident in making decisions based on clear, valid guidance from trusted sources. Only then can they move forward with the assurance that they are making informed choices for their business.