AI-Written Benefit Applications: Why Are Public Agencies Facing a Crisis Due to an Avalanche of Paperwork?

Imagine you are in a situation where you need to fill out complex paperwork to receive welfare benefits. In the past, it would have taken days to read and fill out countless items one by one, but now, you can just tell a Generative AI (artificial intelligence that creates sentences or images based on vast amounts of data), “Explain my situation and write a welfare application for me,” and a perfect application is born in an instant.

This technological change will certainly feel like a blessing to those with low information accessibility or difficulty navigating complex administrative procedures. However, the scene in public agency offices has recently become busy in a slightly different sense than before. This is because applications sent by AI have begun to pile up like a snowball.

Why should we pay attention?

We often expect that when technology is introduced, public services will become more efficient and administrative waste will be reduced. In fact, many government agencies have set goals to increase productivity by utilizing AI References: The Promises and Perils of using LLMs for Effective Public Services.

However, such technological adoption is not a solution to all problems. The phenomenon of an explosive influx of applications written by AI Agents (AI programs that judge and act on their own to achieve set goals) is placing an excessive burden on unprepared government agencies. Beyond simply slowing down work, this can lead to unfortunate results where applications from people who genuinely need benefits are buried under mass-generated AI documents, or the system rejects genuine applicants in the process of filtering them out References: Agent-Written Applications Are Filling Government Desks.

The phenomenon explained simply

Researchers have recently begun calling this phenomenon ‘Agentic Flooding’ (a phenomenon where documents created by AI agents pour out like a flood). To use a simple analogy for this situation:

Imagine a famous restaurant that only accepted reservations by phone, but one day, someone installed a machine that automatically dials the phone, starting to call hundreds of times per second. The restaurant owner, the public agency, cannot think straight due to the constant ringing, and the actual customer trying to make a reservation hears only a ‘busy’ signal and eventually gives up on the reservation.

Experts have already collected over 84 cases across 11 jurisdictions to confirm that this phenomenon is becoming a reality References: Characterizing Agentic Flooding of Government Services. AI creates applications with perfect sentences without tiring, but as the results exceed the agency’s processing capacity, the system is experiencing ‘overload.’

The bigger problem is the response method. The first thing public agencies introduce to stop this flood is more powerful ‘technical filters.’ However, the walls built this way often block both AI and humans indiscriminately. By analogy, it is as if the restaurant owner, bothered by the loud ringing, simply unplugged the phone line. This seriously damages the original purpose of welfare References: Agent-Written Applications Are Filling Government Desks.

Where we stand now

In the field of public services, the pros and cons behind the introduction of technology are already clearly visible. Some countries are moving toward simplifying the application process, but there are still many skeptical views on whether such changes can perfectly guarantee the quality of administration References: The risks and benefits of government moves to push more appeals through a streamlined written procedure.

Furthermore, in a situation where the government’s own resources are lacking, technology adoption itself cannot be a magical solution. On the contrary, there are reports that as complex procedures for handling technology are added, it is becoming more difficult for those in need to actually access benefits References: “In the last year, it’s gotten a lot worse” A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Disability Benefits in 2025. Technology is becoming another barrier of complex bureaucracy instead of helping our lives References: New Technologies, Old Rights: Litigating Public-Benefits Modernization.

Future tasks

Going forward, public agencies will need to prepare more sophisticated institutional mechanisms for coexistence with AI agents. Beyond simply determining whether an application was written by a human or an AI, there is a need for an integrated communication channel that verifies how clearly the key information required by the system is contained References: Clear Appeal Rights for Public Benefits Agencies.

What is clear is that technology is changing the process of receiving welfare benefits to be more convenient. However, social consensus and institutional refinement must take precedence so that technology does not paralyze administrative work and the walls do not block the people who need help. This is because technology should exist to help people, and people should not be sacrificed to keep up with the speed of technology.

References

1. Agent-Written Applications Are Filling Government Desks
2. Characterizing Agentic Flooding of Government Services
3. Clear Appeal Rights for Public Benefits Agencies
4. The Promises and Perils of using LLMs for Effective Public Services

5. [How to Appeal

   Health & Human Services](https://hhs.iowa.gov/appeals/how-appeal)

6. [The risks and benefits of government moves to push more appeals through a streamlined written procedure

   Planning Resource](https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1925103/risks-benefits-government-moves-push-streamlined-written-procedure)

7. “In the last year, it’s gotten a lot worse” A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers to Disability Benefits in 2025 - DREDF
8. New Technologies, Old Rights: Litigating Public-Benefits Modernization