Assist, the AI tool built for government communicators

Welcome to the home of Assist, the dynamic generative AI tool built for government communicators. This page provides comprehensive information about how government communications are using bespoke AI technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Introduction

Powered by generative AI, Assist is a secure and accessible bespoke conversational tool that empowers users to become even more efficient and effective in their roles through helping to brainstorm, create first drafts and review work. Assist users also benefit from the confidence that its outputs follow government communication policies and standards.

A screenshot of the Assist online homepage. The header says, 'Assist, A government communications initiative’ in white font on a purple background.

Underneath header, page menu headings say: ‘Assist’, ‘About Assist’, ‘How to use Assist’, ‘Support and Q&A’

Top right hand corner of webpage says ‘Chat history’

Navigation buttons in top right of webpage say: ‘Start open chat’, ‘Upload documents’, ‘Manage my prompts’

A subheading on the page says ‘My personalised prompts’ underneath which there are links to:

‘Creating Communications content’ - 'This is a high-quality prompt which allows me to...'
'Brainstorming ideas' - 'This is a high quality prompt which allows me to...'

The main part of the webpage shows a list of prompts and links under a further subheading which says, ‘Which area would you like to explore?’:

Planning, campaigns and communication - Create OASIS plans, design narratives, conduct COM-B analysis
Campaign Evaluation - Build theories of change, define outcomes, produce KPIs
Developing marketing and communication content - Design messaging, conduct message testing, summarise text
Media handling and press releases - Brainstorm media questions, write press releases, draft briefings — A screenshot of Assist’s homepage

Whether you’re part of the Government Communications profession, working in the Civil Service in a non-communications profession or working outside of government, this page will:

Improve your understanding of how government communications are using a bespoke AI tool to increase efficiency and effectiveness
Provide guidance and inspiration on how to effectively and responsibly scale an AI solution in your team or organisation
Enable you to learn more about the valuable impact of an in-house AI solution for communications professionals, the principles of which can be applied across different industry sectors
Give you access to Assist’s underlying code, along with the detailed technical assessments and rigorous standards Assist has passed in order to become the first AI tool to be approved for cross-government use.

You must be a member of Government Communications in order to access Assist. Not a member? Find out if you are eligible and how to join.

If you are already a member, you will need to complete a short onboarding course, ‘Assist Essentials’, to receive access. Completing the course will give you the knowledge to better understand the role and evolution of artificial intelligence. It will also teach you about ‘large language models’, how to summarise ethical issues related to AI and balance AI-related opportunities and risks in order to use it effectively in your role. You will be given access to Assist the day after you complete the course.

Assist’s beginnings

We created Assist as part of a proactive strategy to implement AI solutions across government communications to make our profession more efficient and effective. Our journey began by understanding what differentiates the most innovative organisations. This helped us to establish a clear framework: encourage, identify, test and scale innovation. We recognised some projects would benefit most from centralised delivery, ensuring consistency and broad impact. We also recognised the need to establish frameworks for successful adoption of new ideas, which meant having the right ethics, networks, and skills in place. Ethics and responsible use were a core principle in Assist’s journey, alongside our commitment to public transparency.

We built the first Assist prototype in-house in just six weeks and began testing with users in November 2023. We created 49 ‘pre-built’ prompts to get quick and early value from the tool, tailoring it to a diverse range of communication specialisms – from press handling to campaign planning, and much more. We developed a bespoke mandatory training course, and embedded best-practice communication guides directly into AI workflows to support all our users, with varying levels of AI experience, to work effectively with Assist.

Since launching the tool in November 2024, more than 90% of government communicators are using Assist. Assist is helping thousands of users every day with tasks such as drafting strategic communication plans, brainstorming ideas and sense checking their work. The tool’s impact has been huge, with users saving 3 hours per week on average, equivalent to millions of pounds worth of annual productivity savings. These impacts have established Assist as an indispensable tool for government communicators.

Our pioneering approach and commitments to the highest standards has made Assist the first cross-government generative AI tool to go ‘live’ – confirming it meets all government security, accessibility, and service standards. We’ve also open-sourced the underlying code, upholding transparency and creating the foundations for other departments and professions to build and scale similar tools.

Creating and developing Assist – Our approach

We’ve learnt many lessons throughout the process of creating, developing and scaling Assist across thousands of users and hundreds of organisations. Below outlines a range of resources with more information about how and why we developed Assist for Government Communications, and guidance we’ve published on GOV.UK supporting other organisations to follow our approach.

Introducing Assist – the dynamic AI tool transforming government communications – A brief overview of how and why we built Assist, and its positive impact across our profession.

Guidance on a human-centred approach to scaling and de-risking AI tools (opens on GOV.UK) – Two behavioural science-informed guides and accompanying resources to support organisations to scale AI solutions whilst mitigating unintended consequences. This is based on evidenced learnings from our experience developing and rolling out Assist to hundreds of communications teams, large and small, across central UK Government and the public sector. The guidance includes:
- The People Factor: A human centred approach to scaling AI tools – For anyone embarking on implementing a generative AI solution in their business, this indispensable guide provides a three-stage framework (Adopt, Sustain, Optimise) to help fast track and de-risk your organisation’s adoption of AI.
- The Mitigating ‘Hidden’ AI Risks Toolkit – Designed to complement ‘The People Factor’, this provides a practical guide to identifying, tracking and mitigating unintended consequences of AI adoption.

Assist passes Service Assessment (opens on GOV.UK) – A detailed outcome of the third and final Government Digital Service Assessment of Assist. Achieving 14 out of 14 ‘greens’, this assessment shows the high security, accessibility, and service standards Assist passed to become the first cross-government generative AI tool to move from ‘beta’ to ‘live’ service.

Assist – Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (opens on GOV.UK) – A technical overview of Assist’s infrastructure, including details of its underlying large language model, system architecture risks, and mitigations.

Assist’s code open sourced (opens on github.com) – A technical overview of Assist’s underlying code. Although Assist is built specifically for government communicators, by making our code visible to others, we’re providing support and inspiration for others who might be developing similar tools. We also invite others to adopt our responsible and ethical approach to developing the tool. Please get in touch if you are considering or are using the source code – we love to hear about use cases!

How we are using Assist, and its impact

Discover how Assist is being used across communication disciplines by reading our case studies, and seeing the impact of this award-winning tool beyond government communications.

We regularly add new case studies to show how Assist is being used. We’d love to hear from users about how the tool is helping them – please get in touch.

Assist in action

Case study 1: Using Assist to draft crisis communications – Learn how Assist was used to support more than 100 government communications colleagues and 17 departments create plans for potential national crises.
Case study 2 – Using Assist to support a return to work – Read how Assist supported a government communicator in the Ministry of Defence during her return to work after maternity leave.
Case study 3 – Using Assist to refine OASIS plans (member-only content) – A government communications team share how they used Assist to support their campaign planning.
Case study 4 – Using Assist for rapid evaluation – (member-only content) – A government communications team share how they used Assist to speed up their campaign evaluation.

Assist’s impact

Assist has been recognised as Winner of the 2025 National AI Awards – Public Sector Category – AI Award for Government and Public Sector. This award recognises exceptional AI use in public service. Assist also won the Creative Solution Award at the Cabinet Office 2025 Awards ceremony, and features in various exemplar AI cases across government:

AI knowledge Hub use case – Assist is featured as a case study in the cross-government AI knowledge Hub, a valuable resource for teams adopting AI technologies in the public sector

If you’re a member of Government Communications, you can share your top tips and queries about Assist with fellow government communicators in our Community Forums. You can also use the links below to watch the latest Assist webinars, access up to date training and guidance, and hear directly from Assist ‘superusers’ on how they use the tool in their daily work.

Complete Assist Essentials (member-only content) – A short onboarding course all users must complete before receiving access to the tool.

Join the ‘Using Assist’ forum on Connect (member-only content).

Explore our Assist cheat sheets with useful guides and top tips on:
- What Assist can do
- How to write an effective prompt

Watch the latest ‘Introduction to Assist’ webinar (member-only content).

Discover the Assist Superuser series (member-only content) – Assist’s most prolific users share how they use and get the most out of the tool in our live all-member calls:
- Assist Superuser call – June 2025
- Assist superuser interview with Niall Hunt (member-only content)

Contact us

If you want to learn more about using Assist, or have a query regarding the information on this page, contact ai.gcs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.