Imagine you need help from your council. You might check the website on your lunch break, ask a question at the library or call from home. However you start, you want to explain what you need, understand the answer and know what to do next.
“Can the council pick up my old mattress?”
I’ve lived here for years, but I’ve never booked a mattress collection. I have ten minutes before I’m back at work, so I search the council website for “mattress pickup”. The council calls it “hard waste”. I’d use that term if I already knew it.
I want to know whether the council takes mattresses, whether there’s a fee and where to leave mine if I live in a block of units. If I can book online, take me to the form and tell me what I’ll need before I start.
A Human X Lab Website AI Assistant could connect “mattress pickup” to the council’s hard waste service, explain the guidance in plain language and point me to the booking form. If the collection point depends on my address, it could tell me which team can confirm.
“I’ve just arrived. Which bin do I put out?”
I recently moved to Australia. There are several bins at my unit, and I’m trying to work out which one takes food scraps and when it gets collected. I can ask the first question in English. For a follow-up about the shared bins in my building, I’d feel more comfortable using the language I speak at home.
Imagine I’m already at the library and see a council information kiosk. I could choose a supported language and ask a co-designed Digital Human to explain the council’s bin guidance. Even during the busiest times, I could ask a routine question while library staff are helping other visitors. If it can’t confirm what applies to my building, it could tell me which council team to contact and how to request an interpreter. If I need help using the kiosk, there’s a staff member nearby.
At home, a Multilingual Chatbot on the council website could let me type or speak my question in a supported language and point me to the collection calendar or the right council team. For residents from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, being able to switch languages as the question changes can make it easier to ask for help.
“Can I speak to someone about the footpath?”
I’m an older resident of Indian origin. On my walk to the shops, I noticed a raised section of footpath that could trip someone. I opened the council’s reporting form, but it asked me to drop a pin on a map. It would be easier to call and say, “It’s just past the corner shop, next to the gum tree.”
I want to know that I’ve reached the right team, that they’ve understood where the problem is and what happens after I report it.
A Human X Lab AI Phone Receptionist could explain what details the council needs and route my call to the right team when staff are available. If I ask to speak to a person, that option should be easy to reach.
The service should make sense wherever I start
I might start with a website search and finish with a phone call. A council can configure its Human X Lab website assistant, multilingual chatbot, Digital Human kiosk and phone receptionist to draw on the same approved guidance. The council decides who updates that guidance and when to direct a resident to staff or interpreter support.
Accessibility needs to carry through to the next step. If the assistant sends me to a form, I need to be able to understand and use it, including with a keyboard or screen reader. If I make a report, I want to know whether it was received. If my question needs a person, I want to know who can help.
AI for humanity.
For residents. For the people who serve them.
Better service. Easier access. More satisfied residents.
Council staff are at the heart of the service. AI can help with routine questions, giving staff more time to listen and help when residents need personal support.
A council could start with one common enquiry and invite residents to try it on the devices, in the languages and through the channels they already use. Then it can see whether people complete the task, where they pause and whether they reach the right person when they need help.
From my side, I’ll know the service worked when I can put my phone away knowing what to do next.
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