L Plate: “Govt must use AI to tackle bot problem”
Government can turn the scourge of bots auto-booking driving tests into a hi-tech solution if it gets creative with AI, a sector expert said today.
This comes after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander unveiled plans to cut test wait times to seven weeks by summer 2026 by adding 10,000 more test a month – plans which, according to L Plate, are doomed to fail.
“Govt is trying to solve a digital problem with an analogue solution”
“Heidi Alexander is trying to solve a digital problem with an analogue solution, and it won’t work,” said Ewart Grogono-Thomas, co-founder of L Plate, a Bristol-based agency which connects learner drivers with instructors.
“The main problem government and the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) needs to tackle is booking bots.
“If they worked smarter, not harder, they’d soon see that if AI can be used to grab test slots, it can also be used in a system to combat this problem and help clear the huge backlog of tests.”
These automated bot systems rapidly snatch up test slots, often on behalf of third-party companies which then resell them at inflated prices.
DVSA has lost control
This “black market” for test slots has left many learners unable to secure appointments at a fair price.
With the DVSA having lost control of the booking system, its only solution is adding more test slots, which will then be gobbled up by bots
Ewart added: “Bot-based appointment-buying software can certainly be tweaked into an automated system to clear the driving test backlog. Government is harnessing AI in area areas, so why not here too?”
