AI is increasingly being used in policy research, but how reliable is it in practice?

This session (jointly held between the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Ageing, and the NIHR Innovation Observatory) looked at how AI tools can help with policy research tasks like reviewing evidence, analysing documents, and extracting data. It shared findings from real studies comparing AI with human researchers, highlighting where AI works well and where it still falls short.

Date: Wednesday 17th June 2026: 12pm – 1pm 

Chair: Professor Chris Todd (University of Manchester)

This session included talks on:

• How can AI support responsive and rapid policy research? An evaluation of Elicit: The AI Research Assistant 
• Assessing the Validity and Utility of LLM-Supported Qualitative Analysis of Statutory Policy Documents: A Comparative Study Using Integrated Care Board Joint Forward Plans 
• Is AI‑assisted data extraction as good as humans when it comes to accuracy, efficiency, cost, and types of errors? 

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