Recent political developments, alongside rapid advances in technology, have highlighted how quickly the desire for information gathering is evolving. At a recent CIPR Scotland event, speakers reflected on the newly elected and highly diverse Scottish Parliament, increasing voter volatility, and the growing influence of misinformation. Much of which is increasingly shaped and amplified by artificial intelligence (AI). While this discussion was grounded in the Scottish context, these themes are becoming increasingly prominent across the UK.
For those of us working in the energy and infrastructure sector, these trends matter. They are reshaping who engages, how they engage, and the quality and volume of feedback received.
The role of AI and the rise of misinformation
Rapid technological change creates both opportunity and uncertainty. With the growth of AI-generated content, society is reshaping how people access, interpret and respond to information. This has implications for consultation, where engagement is influenced by an increased reliance on online AI-generated narratives that may be incomplete, misleading or generalised.
In the wider context of trust, regulators such as Ofcom have highlighted that around half of adults are more likely to trust an article written by a human than an AI-generated article. Research by the Reuters Institute shows that people are increasingly using AI tools to obtain quick summaries and save time, often engaging with AI‑generated information rather than original sources. This content is frequently consumed without fully interrogating accuracy or source. Becoming increasingly apparent is the subsequent ‘knowledge compression’ which many of us have grown to rely upon. This is centred on AI’s ability to take a large dataset and provide condensed insights – often without fully understanding the human-based context within which these insights exist. That being said, recent research has outlined the steps AI can take to “learn, reason, and transfer knowledge with human-like efficiency”.
As AI tools become more widely used, misleading information is increasingly surfacing in research, polling and consultation responses. Fact-checking and ensuring there is a source of truth is central to combatting misinformation. In an age where information spreads rapidly, we all share a responsibility to verify sources, question what we consume, and challenge misleading or false narratives. By doing so, we can help curb the spread of misinformation and foster a more accurately informed society.
What this means for consultation
In practice, AI has begun to directly affect the quality and reliability of feedback received throughout consultation. This feedback may be shaped by oversimplified narratives, incorrect assumptions or generalised content produced at speed rather than through direct engagement with project materials.
Across projects, we are seeing:
- Misinformed feedback, shaped by inaccurate or incomplete online content
- Highly technical and accurate responses, sometimes wholly generated or supported by AI tools
- Generalised objections, which are not project-specific and are reused across multiple consultations with minimal localisation
This does not make consultation or the associated responses less valuable – far from it. But it does mean that analysing responses now requires more care, context and resources than ever before. In practical terms for clients, this means increased project costs.
Using AI responsibly
While AI is part of the problem, it can also be part of the solution, if used ethically.
Copper has been exploring AI and how internally developed AI tools can support the consultation process. The focus is not on replacing professional judgement or creativity, but on supporting it to enhance efficiency and support the production of deliverables while adding value to clients through providing reduced programme costs.
Crucially, within our approach, we understand that any use of AI must be transparent, secure and grounded in professional oversight. Human interpretation remains essential, and this is particularly relevant in the context of feedback being influenced by misinformation. Our approach combines essential human judgement with the efficiency of AI, delivering a robust and accurate dataset that can be confidently used to inform project planning.
Looking ahead
As AI continues to reshape how information is created and shared, the challenge for our sector is to ensure that consultation remains meaningful, credible and inclusive. That means being honest about the limitations of data, clear about how feedback is used, and open to new tools that help us do the job better.
In a time of political change and low trust, getting consultation right has never mattered more.
If you’d like to learn more about our work on AI and how our efficiencies can positively impact your programme of work, please contact our Director of Infrastructure, Andrew Weaver.