The city of Chemnitz is now using a digital assistant: a new service is available to residents on the city’s website at www.chemnitz.de:
An AI-powered chatbot can answer questions about municipal services and forms, opening hours, events and many current topics.
Mayor Ralph Burghart said: “The digital assistant is available to visitors to the city portal www.chemnitz.de 24 hours a day, all year round. Whether you’re on the sofa or on the bus, you can quickly and easily find all the city’s services, right through to online applications and helpful related information. In this way, we’re simplifying the process and providing better service for everyone.”
The assistant understands everyday language, is proficient in the most common foreign languages spoken in Chemnitz – both in written and spoken form – and provides quick answers – where available, with direct links to forms and additional information on the relevant departments. In doing so, it not only makes it easier to access administrative information but also saves citizens from having to wait on the phone or visit offices, thereby also reducing the workload on staff at the relevant departments.
The system is continuously trained using various digital knowledge sources from the City of Chemnitz: the city portal www.chemnitz.de – including the council information system, the service portal/Amt24 and the careers portal – as well as websites of government departments, institutions and partners: the Zoo and Music School, the VMS and CVAG, the ASR and ESC, the Cemetery and Funeral Services, and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH.
Data protection is ensured in accordance with the GDPR; all inputs are processed anonymously without the need to register, and the chatbot does not request any personal data. The service is largely accessible and also offers the option of dialogue in plain language.
The launch was preceded by a public trial, for which volunteer testers were invited at the residents’ meeting in October and via the official gazette to put the application through its paces.
The AI assistant was developed by Neuraflow, a company specialising in solutions for public administrations.
To help further optimise the service, users can provide their feedback directly via the chatbot or by emailing internet(at)stadt-chemnitz.de.
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