Gangnam-gu, led by District Mayor Kim Hyun-ki, introduced an "AI work assistant" to its civil affairs and local tax services on Thursday.
The system lets staff type in a work-related question and receive an answer drawn from official administrative documents registered by the district, with direct access to the original source text.
The project is one of eight pilot initiatives Gangnam-gu selected through a public-private open innovation program. Civil service counters are frequently staffed by newly appointed employees who often need to quickly locate relevant statutes and administrative manuals to respond to residents on the spot.
With those on-the-ground conditions in mind, the district prioritized AI support for civil affairs areas — including resident registration, personal seals, certified copies, family relations, housing lease matters and confirmed-date stamping — as well as local tax services, so staff can retrieve the information they need without delay.
The AI work assistant answers only from materials pre-registered by the district, such as relevant statutes, administrative manuals and compiled query-response cases. When staff enter complex questions commonly encountered at the counter — for example, whether a resident registration card can incur a double fine if issuance is delayed while the applicant is listed as address-unknown, or whether a vehicle registered jointly with a person with a disability still qualifies for an automobile tax reduction after the household splits — the system quickly locates the applicable rules and reference materials and returns an answer.
A key feature is that staff can verify the basis of every answer themselves. Each response displays the relevant statute, the name and page number of the reference document, and a reliability indicator. Clicking the source lets staff view the original text and the specific passage used, so they can make their own final judgment based on the evidence rather than simply accepting the AI's answer.
Verification safeguards have also been built in to improve accuracy. If an AI response diverges from the registered documents or its accuracy is in doubt, a "Caution" notice appears; the system is also configured not to answer when it cannot identify a supporting source.
In addition, the district runs the system on its own servers rather than an external cloud, preventing staff queries and administrative documents from being transmitted outside the organization.
Zero Labs Korea, a participant in the pilot program, handled system design and development. After assessing usability, accuracy and staff satisfaction in the civil affairs and local tax domains, the district plans to explore expanding the assistant to other administrative areas such as welfare and legal services.
"In public administration, accuracy matters as much as speed," District Mayor Kim said. "We will improve both the accuracy of our responses to residents and overall work efficiency by having AI quickly locate the necessary materials while staff verify the underlying grounds themselves."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
