The Virtual Public Servant: Artificial Intelligence and Frontline Work

Preface and Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Boxes
Chapter 1: Artificial Intelligence and Frontline Public Service
	References
Chapter 2: Control, Cost, Convenience and Connection, Four Problems for AI and Public Service
	The Problem of Control
	The Problem of Cost
	The Problem of Convenience
	The Problem of Connection
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 3: AI, Public Service and Research Methodology
	Documents
		Online Reviews
		B2G Marketing Materials
	Cases and Extended Examples
		International Examples
		Public Servant Interviews
		Police and Police Staff Interviews
	Research Instruments
		Research Instrument 1—Frontline Topic Guide
		Research Instrument 2—Visual Cues
		Research Instrument 3—Q-Set
			Q-Set
			Person Sample
		Research Instrument 4—Police Topic Guide Police
	Analysis
		Analysis of Public Servant Interviews
		Analysis of the Q-Methodology Data
		Analysis of the Police Interviews
	Ethics
	References
Chapter 4: Position Closed: The Disappearance and Datafication of Face-to-Face Public Service
	Face to Face
	Health
	Welfare
	Criminal Justice
	Local Government
	Case of Local Authority Customer Service Centre
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 5: Can I Speak to a Human? Automating Remote Contact in Frontline Public Service
	Remote Contact Research
	Emerging Technologies for Remote Contact
	Beyond the Phone
		SMS—Point of Contact/Distribution
		Apps
		Email
		Videocalls
		Chat
		Interactive Voice Response
		Hybrid Chat
	Remote Contact Case Study
		Training the Bots
		Customer Expectations
		Budget
		Knowledge
		The Missing Connection
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 6: The Non-Public Encounter: Self-Service and the Ephemoralisation of Public Service
	Online Self-service
		Self-Completion Webforms
		Symptom Checkers
		Chatbots
		Physical Self-Service: The Kiosk
	The Case of the Self-Service Library
		Cost and Control
		Connection
		Criticism of Self-Service Libraries
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 7: The Management of Social Media in Frontline Public Service
	An Overview of Social Media Platforms in Public Service
		Facebook
		Instagram
		Twitter
	Observing the Police Use of Social Media
		The Help Desk
		Public Service Broadcasting
		The Digital Canteen
	Police Interviews
		Help Desk Traffic Cops
		Public Service Broadcasters
		The Canteen Cops
	Observing the Police Communications Teams
		Observed Publishing
		Observed Engagement
		Observed Monitoring
		Observed Analysis
		Observed Management
	The Communication Officer Interviews
		On Publishing
		On Engaging
		On Monitoring
		On Analysis
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 8: Robots and Virtual Agents in Frontline Public Service
	Amplifying Public Servant Capabilities
		Face Recognition
		Lie Detection
		Assessment and Feedback Tool
		User Record Analytics
	Enhancing Agent-Citizen Interaction
		Humanoid Robot
		Small Humanoid Robot
		Carebot
		Voice Assistant
	Public Servant Embodiment
		Power-Intensive Task Robot
		Patrol Robot on the Beat
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 9: The Virtual Public Servant Fantasy
	The Case of Enfield’s Amelia
	Views of the Frontline
	Technical Challenges
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 10: The Virtual Public Servant: Three Futures. A Q-Study
	Viewpoint 1 “The Power of Interaction”
	Viewpoint 2—Generation Now
	Viewpoint 3—Human + Machine, Choice + Empowerment
	From Viewpoints to Prescriptions
	Conclusion
	Appendix
	References
Index