Futurescot today unveils a major new survey of public sector professionals to establish how artificial intelligence is understood, used and trusted across government, health, local authority and emergency services in Scotland – and why so few pilots become permanent.

The Scottish Government recently published a new five-year national AI strategy, and reform of public services is a stated government priority. The poll asks the professionals working in those services whether their organisations are ready for AI – from workforce skills to leadership culture and risk appetite – and whether the technology can help deliver on the reform agenda.

AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot are starting to become embedded in the everyday software of thousands of public sector workers. The UK Government alone trialled it with 20,000 civil servants and, north of the Border, Aberdeen City Council has pioneered the platforms’s use among its 8,000 staff. Meanwhile politicians on both sides of the border promise an AI-enabled transformation of public services.

Yet the gap between pledge and practical adoption remains wide. Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee reported last year that there are few examples of successful at-scale AI adoption across government, and no ‘systematic’ way of gathering the lessons from the many pilots underway.

Our study seeks to find out why – and whether the workforce believes the right policies, skills, safeguards and leadership are in place to change it.

The questionnaire, which takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete, is being sent to public sector contacts across Scotland, from the Scottish Government and its agencies to local authorities, NHS Scotland, Police Scotland and other emergency services, education, housing and third sector organisations delivering public services.

It is structured in ten short parts. Respondents are first asked about their role, seniority and how much influence they hold over whether their organisation trials or adopts AI. A second section tests whether professionals feel they can explain how the technology works, distinguish generative AI from other forms of machine learning, and how proficient they are with code and data.

The survey then turns to real-world use, in terms of which sanctioned tools people use at work, whether they use personal AI accounts to help with their work, and what their organisation’s rules actually say.

A section on trust asks respondents to score their confidence in AI on a ten-point scale and to identify what they do and do not trust about it, from accuracy and bias to privacy, confidentiality and data sovereignty, with a dedicated sub-section on the risks where AI touches sensitive data including medical information, and decisions about people’s benefits and personal circumstances.

Further sections examine whether the regulatory framework is fit for purpose, the skills and training workers want or needs, whether organisational culture and leadership are helping or hindering, and any barriers – policy, procurement, funding or risk appetite – that often prevents successful pilots from being adopted meaningfully at scale.

The survey closes by asking about the role of the private sector, questions of national resilience and sovereign AI capability as frontier models grow more powerful, and whether respondents are optimistic or pessimistic about AI-enabled public services.

Kevin O’Sullivan, editor of Futurescot, said: “Everyone has a view on AI in the public sector, but remarkably little is actually known about what the people who deliver Scotland’s public services think of it – whether they trust it, whether they use it, and whether they feel equipped and empowered to do anything with it. The purpose of this survey is to try and answer some of those questions.

“We hear constantly that the public sector is brilliant at piloting AI and poor at adopting it. We want to understand from the workforce itself whether that’s their experience, and if so where the blockages really are. Is it policy, procurement, skills, culture, or a simple lack of permission? The answers will remain confidential and anonymous to encourage people to respond honestly and frankly about their experience of the technology.

“It is my hope, however, that we can get to the bottom of some of the issues that might help move the conversation forward. We don’t claim this is definitive research but it will hopefully be a useful snapshot of what our readers across the public sector are thinking, which is always worth hearing.”

Why are we doing this?

As a publisher and events platform covering digital government, we spend a lot of time reporting claims about AI – from ministers, public servants,  vendors and strategy documents. 

What’s missing is a clear picture of how those claims land with the people working in Scotland’s public services. This survey is an attempt to fill some of those gaps.

There are practical uses too. The findings will inform and shape the agendas for our events – spanning GovTech, Health & Social Care Transformation, Cybersecurity, Digital Justice & Policing and Public Sector AI – so that the programmes reflect the issues practitioners raise, rather than our assumptions about them. 

The survey takes 15-20 minutes to complete, your answers are confidential and reported only in aggregate, and the findings will be shared openly. We hope they’ll be genuinely useful to the leaders making decisions about this technology.

To access the survey please visit the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LV23LP5