{"686467":{"#nid":"686467","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Find Opportunities for 311 Chatbots to Foster Community Engagement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E311 chatbots make it easier for people to report issues to their local government without long wait times on the phone. However, a new study finds that the technology might inhibit civic engagement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E311 systems allow residents to report potholes, broken fire hydrants, and other municipal issues. In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide 311 services to community residents has boomed across city and state governments. This includes an artificial virtual assistant (AVA) developed by third-party vendors for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.atlantaga.gov\/government\/departments\/customer-service-atl311\/atl311-chatbot\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ethe City of Atlanta\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in 2023.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough survey data, researchers from Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing found that many residents are generally positive about 311 chatbots. In addition to eliminating long wait times over the phone, they also offer residents quick answers to permit applications, waste collection, and other frequently asked questions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the study, which was conducted in Atlanta, indicates that 311 chatbots could be causing residents to feel isolated from public officials and less aware of what\u2019s happening in their community.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJieyu Zhou\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Ph.D. student in the School of IC, said it doesn\u2019t have to be that way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUniting Communities\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZhou and her advisor, Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chrismaclellan.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChristopher MacLellan\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, published a paper at the 2025 ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) Conference that focuses on improving public service chatbot design and amplifying their civic impact. They collaborated with Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.carldisalvo.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarl DiSalvo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/lynndombrowski.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELynn Dombrowsk\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003Ei, and graduate students \u003Cstrong\u003ERui Shen\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/yueyu1030.github.io\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYue You\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZhou said 311 chatbots have the potential to be agents that drive community organization and improve quality of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCurrent chatbots risk isolating users in their own experience,\u201d Zhou said. \u201cIn the 311 system, people tend to report their own individual issues but lose a sense of what is happening in their broader community.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPeople are very positive about these tools, but I think there\u2019s an opportunity as we envision what civic chatbots could be. It\u2019s important for us to emphasize that social element \u2014 engaging people\u0026nbsp;within the community and connecting them with government representatives, community organizers, and other community members.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZhou and MacLellan said 311 chatbots can leave users wondering if others in their communities share their concerns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf people are at a town hall meeting, they can get a sense of whether the problems they are experiencing are shared by others,\u201d Zhou said. \u201cWe can\u2019t do that with a chatbot. It\u2019s like an isolated room, and we\u2019re trying to open the doors and the windows.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdding a Human Touch\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their paper, the researchers note that one of the biggest criticisms of 311 chatbots is they can\u2019t replace interpersonal interaction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnlike chatbots, people working in local government offices are likely to:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHave direct knowledge of issues\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EProvide appropriate referrals\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEmpathize with the resident\u2019s concerns\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMacLellan said residents are likely to grow frustrated with a chatbot when reporting issues that require this level of contextual knowledge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne person in the researchers\u2019 survey noted that the chatbot they used didn\u2019t understand that their report was about a sidewalk issue, not a street issue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cExplaining such a situation to a human representative is straightforward,\u201d MacLellan said. \u201cHowever, when the issue being raised does not fall within any of the categories the chatbot is built to address, it often misinterprets the query and offers information that isn\u2019t helpful.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers offer some design suggestions that can help chatbots foster community engagement and improve community well-being:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEscalation. Regarding the sidewalk report, the chatbot did not offer a way to escalate the query to a human who could resolve it. Zhou said that this is a feature that chatbots should have but often lack.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETransparency. Chatbots could provide details about recent and frequently reported community issues. They should inform users early in the call process about known problems to help avoid an overload of user complaints.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEducation. Chatbots can keep users updated about what\u2019s happening in their communities.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECollective action. Chatbots can help communities organize and gather ideas to address challenges and solve problems.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGovernment agencies may focus mainly on fixing individual issues,\u201d Zhou said, \u201cBut recognizing community-level patterns can inspire collective creativity. For example, one participant suggested that if many people report a broken swing at a playground, it could spark an initiative to design a new playground together\u2014going far beyond just fixing it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese are just a few examples of things, the researchers argue, that 311 services were originally designed to achieve.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCommunities were already collaborating on identifying and reporting issues,\u201d Zhou said. \u201cThese chatbots should reflect the original intentions and collaboration practices of the communities they serve.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur research suggests we can increase the positive impact of civic chatbots by including social aspects within the design of the system, connecting people, and building a community view.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology found that while 311-style chatbots simplify the process of reporting municipal issues and reduce wait times, users can feel isolated from their community and less connected to broader civic awareness. They recommend redesigning these systems to include transparency about collective issues, provide pathways for human escalation, and support community-level action.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"AI-powered 311 chatbots may unitentionally reduce residents\u0027 sense of connection within their community."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2025-11-14 20:30:41","changed_gmt":"2025-11-14 20:35:50","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-11-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-11-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678639":{"id":"678639","type":"image","title":"Jieyu-Zhou_86A8161-Enhanced-NR.jpg","body":null,"created":"1763152260","gmt_created":"2025-11-14 20:31:00","changed":"1763152260","gmt_changed":"2025-11-14 20:31:00","alt":"Jieyu Zhou","file":{"fid":"262697","name":"Jieyu-Zhou_86A8161-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/14\/Jieyu-Zhou_86A8161-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/14\/Jieyu-Zhou_86A8161-Enhanced-NR.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":134034,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/11\/14\/Jieyu-Zhou_86A8161-Enhanced-NR.jpg?itok=909Uit6L"}}},"media_ids":["678639"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"188776","name":"go-research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"169137","name":"chatbot"},{"id":"189306","name":"public service technology"},{"id":"1134","name":"City of Atlanta"},{"id":"188933","name":"Atlanta community."},{"id":"10614","name":"community organizing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}