The Scottish Information Commissioner ("Commissioner") has seen appeal volumes increase by 83% over the past year and notably, during a two-month period, 120 appeals were received from two individuals, with evidence showing that all of those appeals had been generated using AI.
The Commissioner has responded with both new guidance for requesters and a new case management measure with the aim of protecting the integrity of Scotland's FOI appeal system. In light of this, authorities should ideally review how AI-related requests are identified, managed and supported within existing FOI processes.
New requester guidance on using AI
The Commissioner's guidance encourages requesters using AI tools to keep requests simple and focused on what they actually want to know, and encourages users of generative AI to check everything carefully before submission. The guidance also points out common risks, including requests that are unnecessarily complex, unclear or based on "hallucinated" information.
For authorities, the guidance is useful not only as a public-facing resource but also as a practical tool when providing advice and assistance. Where a request appears to have been generated or expanded upon by AI, authorities may point requesters to the guidance and, if appropriate in the situation, invite them to narrow or clarify the request so that it can be handled effectively.
New appeal management measure
The Commissioner has also introduced a policy which allows the number of live appeals from a single requester to be restricted to five, depending on the exact facts of the case. This measure is aimed at exceptional cases where repeated appeal submissions appear capable of undermining the effective operation of Scotland's FOI framework. It is designed to help the Commissioner respond where AI tools appear to have enabled large volumes of machine-generated reviews and appeals with limited human input. The policy has not been presented as a general cap on appeals but as a protective measure to preserve access to the appeal process for all users.
To look out for
The Commissioner is currently creating AI guidance for public bodies and will be launching an FOI staff survey which will include questions on the impact of AI on FOI requests. Commissioner David Hamilton is also set to lead a project examining how AI is affecting FOI regulators and public bodies across Europe, adding further significance to the growing regulatory focus on AI-assisted information requests.
