The revenue commissioners office for the Republic of Ireland is piloting a voice-driven virtual assistant for tax-related services to Irish citizens, marking yet ore digital transformation in the public sector.
The chatbot has been developed by business technology consulting firm Accenture and will use AI to help streamline tax services across the Republic.
John Barron, Revenue's CIO, said: "We are very excited to be piloting this technology at Revenue. We continually work to provide our customers with improved and more efficient service offerings while taking full account of requirements regarding confidentiality and security of data.
"We recognize the potential benefits of artificial intelligence tools and believe this pilot will help us to identify innovative ways to improve taxpayer interaction and operational efficiency."
Ireland's tax and customs administration tool note of Accenture's global study, published back in February, that suggested that most people were becoming more comfortable using AI for government services. According to the results, nearly 70% of Irish taxpayers said they would use AI to improve the accuracy of tax filings.
"We have drawn on Accenture's industry knowledge and our experience in the latest digital technologies and methodologies, including AI to develop this service," said David Regan Accenture's global managing director.
"Technology is now firmly embedded throughout our everyday lives and is reshaping large parts of society. Revenue is leading the way with this pilot and we look forward to working with them to ensure success."
Chatbots and voice assistants have become a typical route for customer services organisation undergoing digital transformations and have virtually become commonplace for most companies with online services. Examples can be seen with Marks & Spencer's recent adoption of an AI chatbot to replace call centre staff as part of its plans to digitally transform its business, and is indicative of the disruptive nature some of the latest digital services and technology can have on traditional IT infrastructure and business operations.
