PlanBot

PlanBot represents a revolutionary approach to modernizing government planning consultations through artificial intelligence. Developed during the prestigious Government Digital Service x i.AI hackathon in Leeds, this project demonstrates the potential for AI to transform public sector services and citizen engagement.

Created within an intensive 24-hour development window, PlanBot addresses the complex challenges faced by both planning consultants and their clients in navigating the often overwhelming planning permission process. The chatbot serves as an intelligent intermediary, providing instant guidance, document assistance, and procedural clarity.

The technical implementation leverages ShadCN UI components for a polished, accessible user interface that meets government digital service standards. The component library ensures consistency, accessibility compliance, and responsive design across all device types, making the service available to citizens regardless of their technical capabilities.

Google's Gemini AI powers the conversational intelligence, enabling natural language processing of complex planning queries, document analysis, and personalized guidance based on specific project requirements. The AI model is fine-tuned to understand planning terminology, regulations, and common citizen concerns.

Key features include intelligent query processing, document upload and analysis, step-by-step guidance through planning applications, regulatory compliance checking, timeline estimation, cost calculation assistance, and integration with existing government databases for real-time information retrieval.

The project showcases rapid prototyping skills, government service design principles, AI integration expertise, and collaborative development under pressure. PlanBot demonstrates how emerging technologies can be responsibly implemented to improve public services and citizen experiences while maintaining security and privacy standards.