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Advances in Artificial Intelligence technologies have revived the interest in Chatbots in both the private and the public sector. Chatbots could improve public service delivery by being able to answer frequently asked questions and conduct transactions, relieving staff from mundane tasks. However, previous e-Government research shows that the adoption of newer technologies does not always mean public services get improved. It is therefore of interest to research to which degree newer, advanced technologies such as Chatbots are able to improve, change and restructure public service delivery.

This paper gives an exploratory insight using desktop research into three Chatbots currently used in the public administrations of Latvia, Vienna and Bonn. The findings suggest that minor organisational changes are accompanied with the introduction of Chatbot-technology in public administrations, but question whether Chatbots are able to transform traditional services to digital, integrated public service transactions.

Download the paper from the ResearchGate platform.

Publication Year: 2019

Publisher: Springer Verlag

ISSN: 1611-3349 (online)

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-27397-2_5 (online)

Citation: Van Noordt, C. and Misuraca, G., New Wine in Old Bottles: Chatbots in Government - Exploring the transformative impact of Chatbots in public service delivery , In: Electronic Participation. ePart 2019. International Conference, 02-05 September 2019, San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 2019, ISSN 1611-3349 (online),0302-9743 (print), 11686, p. 49-59, JRC116848.