Half of civil servants at several Whitehall departments admit using AI to save time at work as Andy Burnham faces fresh questions over speechwriter using it to help craft keynote speech

Half of civil servants at several Whitehall departments have admitted using AI to save time at work.Around half or more of workers at the science and technology, business and trade, Treasury, Foreign Office and energy Departments said in a major survey that they used AI to save 'one hour or more' a week.Across Whitehall, more than one in four (27 per cent) said they did.It came as Andy Burnham faced mounting questions after a speechwriter was caught using AI to help craft a keynote address to Welsh Labour members in Llandudno on Saturday.The Downing Street aide was pictured by the Mail on Sunday using ChatGPT to make the Prime Minister's words - including on the cost-of-living squeeze - more 'emotive'.He were caught doing so while quaffing prosecco on the 17.03 train from London Euston to Holyhead on Friday, sparking accusations that the premier was an 'artificial prime minister' and that his 'man-of-the-people act' was 'a sham'.While ministers hope AI could make Whitehall more productive, the growing scale of its use will raise fears that mandarins could use it to cut corners without fully understanding the subject matter at hand or coming up with original solutions to problems.It will also raise fears about workers effectively sharing potentially sensitive information with Silicon Valley giants by inputting it into their AI engines, which they could then harvest. The Downing Street aide was spotted on the 17.03 train from London Euston to Holyhead on Friday using AI to help write a speech for the PM The aide was spotted using ChatGPT to make tweaks to Mr Burnham's speech Former Tory Cabinet Minister David Jones said: 'It is essential that AI should remain a tool, not a substitute for human judgment.'Civil servants must take full personal responsibility for the accuracy of their work, especially when AI-assisted.'And there must be proper safeguards to protect sensitive Government information.'There is nothing inherently wrong with Andy Burnham using AI to help him prepare a speech.'But the public are entitled to expect a senior politician to have something original to say.'The question is whether we're hearing Andy Burnham's true convictions or a computer's best guess at what he thinks voters want to hear.' Tory MP Greg Smith added: 'AI can be an incredible tool, but there will rightly be concern if civil servants are leaning on it for everything.'These tools are not infallible and there is no replacement for human experience and judgement on important matters.'As for political speeches, I have banned the use of AI in my office for drafting anything.'Our constituents deserve to know what we actually think, not AI.'The growing scale of AI use was disclosed in the latest Civil Service People Survey for 2025, published last week, which 343,961 officials from 102 bodies (including quangos) responded to.It asked: 'How much time, if any, do you think you have saved by using AI tools? (1 or more hours a week).'Nearly six in ten (57 per cent) workers at the science and technology Department, which closed last month following a Whitehall restructure, said they did.This was followed by 54 per cent at the business and trade Department, 50 per cent at the Treasury and 49 per cent at the energy Department.Nearly half (48 per cent) of Foreign Office civil servants said they did.Ministers hope AI could boost public sector productivity, which has been sluggish since the pandemic.But a recent business and trade Department study, which monitored use of an AI tool called Redbox, found that, while it saved civil servants time on some tasks such as creating research, other tasks such as analysing data took longer. The adviser sipped prosecco as he worked on Mr Burnham's speech Tory MP Greg Smith, a shadow minister, said he has banned staff from using AI to write speeches There are also fears around using chatbots such as ChatGPT, as Silicon Valley giants have for years been harvesting input data - dubbed 'scraping' - raising security and privacy fears.The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday has agreed to withhold the No 10 speechwriter's identity at Downing Street's request.While working on the PM's Saturday address, he was seen consulting ChatGPT about ways to improve a section criticising Margaret Thatcher's legacy.The bot recommended the use of an 'emotive' passage describing 'working men's clubs, choirs and other social infrastructure' that were lost as Britain moved away from its industrial base.And in the speech he delivered, Mr Burnham spoke about how Mrs Thatcher's premiership in the 1980s 'shattered the way of life for communities up and down Britain' with 'mines closed, factories closed, steelworks silenced'.He also referred to 'the workplaces that created a way of life, the social infrastructure that we took for granted, the working men's clubs, the sports teams, the choirs, the trade unions', adding: 'People came together, looked out for each other.'The aide was also seen drafting references to the cost of living as he worked on the train.And in the speech he delivered, Mr Burnham said: 'I also know what I've got to do is help people now. And I'm in no doubt whatsoever: cost of living is the top issue here in Wales, as it is in all parts of the UK.'A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The PM writes most of his own speeches. An aide sought feedback on a speech draft that had already been written.'