Impressive are the first facts about the “Digital Assistant” of gov.gr using Artificial Intelligence, which was put into operation three days ago and is called upon to answer various questions of the citizens, regarding public services. Essentially, it is the first and decisive step of the government in becoming a pioneer country in the study and application of Artificial Intelligence in the European Union and the first country, which introduces productive Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) in the State, to serve and facilitate the citizens.

“How can I get an ID?”, “How can I issue a family certificate?”, “My son was born in 2010, is he entitled to a youth pass”? are some of the questions that the first “Digital Assistant” is asked to answer. Even more specific or “strange” questions can be responded to and answered, such as “I hear my neighbor in the next apartment, I’m afraid he might be abusing his dog.”

With the entry of AI on gov.gr, the citizen or business does not need to search for gov services and “MITOS” procedures. All it takes is a written question – even a speech – and the Artificial Intelligence application searches all public services and guides the citizen, giving combined answers to simple, but also more complex questions.

The data is all anonymized and even if the citizen adds it, the system itself deletes it, and the “conversation” remains for 20 days. Citizens can chat with the “Digital Assistant” both from their mobile phone and from their computer. They submit their question in natural language, written or spoken, so that the “Digital Assistant” helps them locate the service they are looking for in a simple and friendly way, while at the end of the “conversation” they have the possibility to evaluate the application.

mAigov Beta provides – at the moment – the ability to serve up to 240 conversations in Greek per minute. Each citizen’s interaction time with the system does not exceed 5 minutes per session. With the aim of ensuring a good experience for the user, but also the availability of the service for the largest possible number of citizens, especially in the first period when increased interest is expected, the mAigov system includes a specialized queuing mechanism. Once the maximum number of concurrent serviceable users is reached, the next user is queued until they can be serviced.

The statistics of the first days

The number of questions received by the “Digital Assistant” of gov.gr in the first three days reached 63,000, of which 56,900 were recognized as non-troll questions.

Of these, the percentage of dialogues (clarification on the first answer) reached 30%, since it concerned approximately 17,000 cases. This leads to the conclusion that 70% (39,900) got what they were looking for with the first answer.

The total number of answer ratings was 1,714, or 2.7% of the 63,000 questions. The positive evaluations were 1,334, i.e. 78%.

The most “strange” questions

Of course, there was no lack of “strange” questions, to which the system also answered accordingly. The most characteristic were:

– How much will AGIAX-AEK come today?

“I’m sorry, but I can’t provide information or predictions about sporting events. Please refer to official sports sources for the information you need.’

– How to find a girlfriend?

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with this matter. I am here to provide information about the services and procedures of the Greek Government.”

– Do you believe there is a God?

“I’m sorry, but as an AI, I don’t have the ability to have personals

beliefs or opinions. I am here to provide information about the Greek Government and its procedures.”

– Where has the best skewers in Athens?

“I’m sorry, but I can’t provide information or recommendations for restaurants or

foods. My authorization is limited to providing information about

the services and procedures of the Greek Government”.

About compound questions.

– Hello What’s Your Name;

– I worked for the first time this year. Where can I find my badges?

“You can find your badges through the “Individual Insurance Account” electronic service of EFKA. You will need to have registered and activated your personal account on the EFKA online portal. You can visit the EFKA website for more information. Source: https://www.efka.gov.gr/el/online-services/atomikos-logariasmos-asfalisis”.

– What is the Individual Health Record?

– What supporting documents are needed to issue an Individual Health Record?

“For the issuance of an Individual Health Booklet for adults, you need the following supporting documents: 1. Application completed and signed by the person concerned. 2. Photocopy of the police ID or passport. 3. Recent color photograph measuring 4×6 cm. 4. Health certificate from a doctor, which must include the results of the necessary tests defined by the current legislation.

Topics asked by users

During this period, the “Digital Assistant” of gov.gr received the most questions about the identity card, as it concerned 15.17% of the cases and the new identity card 12.07%.

The other topics were:

Personal ID number 9.66%

Passport 7.93%

Retirement 7.93%

Traffic fees 7.93%

Responsible declaration 7.24%

Heating allowance 5.52%

Issuing a new ID 5.17%

Car transfer 4.48%

Marital Status Certificate 4.48%

ID issue 4.14%

Authorization 4.14%

Birth certificate 4.14%

Papastergiou: “We use Artificial Intelligence as a citizen’s assistant”

Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou spoke of a new era. In a statement to APE-MPE, he specifically stated: “The excellent work that was done with the implementation of gov.gr and the concentration of the digital services of the Government in a single point, it is time to move into a new era. We are leveraging Artificial Intelligence by introducing it for the first time in the Greek State, establishing a real assistant for the citizen. A digital assistant, which listens when the citizen asks by voice command and reads when the citizen writes down the question he has to ask. The “assistant”, which we named mAIgov, searches the content of digital services and material available on gov.gr, as well as the MITOS Registry of Procedures. Thus, in a few seconds, it responds to the citizen, also referring him to a link in order to be served further”.

And Mr. Papastergiou added: “Since the first day, tens of thousands of citizens have been interested in entering the platform and testing the new feature, which we intend to develop further. In a short time, you will see even more applications and service tools for citizens on gov.gr. Artificial Intelligence is a technology that the Prime Minister is putting a lot of emphasis on. Rest assured that it will always be used with absolute respect for citizens’ personal data.”