So what does running a tracker survey into AI in the public tell us? Quite a bit, actually.
Without data you are just another person with an opinion, data scientist W. Edwards Demming once said.
So, here is some data you can measure you and your team against.
In the third edition of my quarterly survey, it’s clear that AI is being firmly embedded in public sector comms teams.
Policies are being more widely adopted by organisations but there are still people using their own tools to get round barriers put in place.
Broadly speaking, the sector is moving towards greater AI adoption. But a lack of skills is holding people back.
Of all the issues being stored up, a failure to be transparent is the one that worries me most. Trust is being gambled with. The losers will be public bodies that fail to declare what and how they are using AI.
Transparency is a major issue. It’s not an stretch to say that all the guidance for the public sector is to encourage every organisation to be clear where and how they are using AI.
Trust is important and people are anxious to know how and where organisations are using artificial intelligence.
While the number of people using their own tools to dodge corporate restrictions has now moved into a minority almost four in 10 still carry out this practice.
This represents a significant danger in data leakage. This could be anything from data uploaded to a public AI tool that is then extracted to a meeting notetaker spilling the secrets of a sensitive meeting.
On the flip-side, the organisation can benefit unknowingly from an unapproved third party tool being used. For example, the unapproved use of a platform that detects if an image is AI.
Here, people are being very consistent. There is little change over time as more than two thirds are both worried and excited at different times. This is to be expected with a new technology.
Worries about AI are not swift to dissipate. A third of people worry about a lack of knowledge, having the time to use AI and being replaced. Concerns about using AI incorrectly remains the most significant worry while data leaking has emerged as a significant worry. This question was not asked in the first two surveys.
AI is becoming a daily tool. It is poised to become a daily tool for the majority in the survey. The most significant change is in this with 43 per cent now using it every day. Just three per cent surveyed don’t use AI at least monthly.
The Wild West of no policy is drawing to a close. There has been a significant shift in the number of organisations with policies. Almost two-thirds now have a policy against a quarter in summer 2025. However, while the trend is clear a large rump are operating without giving guidance to staff. This is as safe as pushing a pram over a thawing lake. At some point it will crack.
Idea generation remains the most popular use of AI in public sector comms and by some distance. Spell check and grammar comes second with generating press releases third.
Audio and video created by AI account for mid-single digit figures. Images have grown from a tenth of those who took part in the survey in summer 2025 to 17 per cent in early 2026.
It’s clear that people are not using AI to create public-facing content. Instead, they are using it for inspiration.
How public sector comms compares with the rest of the UK
Of course, the audience for this tracker survey is self-selecting. But more than nine in 10 people who took part in the survey say they have been using AI regularly. This compares with 20 per cent of businesses in the UK, according to UK Government data from early 2026.
Like the rest of the UK, public sector comms has identified limited skills as one of the most significant barriers.
A note about the surveys
More than 300 people have taken part in each of the tracker surveys. Data used is from people in the public sector.
For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape.
ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS
ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER
ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.
Image credit: Alamy used under licence.