The British state is struggling(艰难应对，苦苦支撑). Railways go unbuilt(未被建造，保持未建成状态) and potholes unfilled. Welfare bills go up and shoplifters go uncollared(未被逮捕的，逍遥法外的). Andy Burnham, the new prime minister, says he can get Whitehall(白厅，英国政府部门的代称) moving; but then again, so did the previous guy. Yet the British state’s ability to function is about to get dramatically worse—a warning to rich democracies everywhere. Citizens frustrated by the poor deal they get from the authorities are turning to artificial intelligence to file objections and appeals, and claim their dues.(对政府服务不满的公民正转向AI来提交反对和上诉，并索取应得权益。) The resulting deluge(洪水般的泛滥，大量涌来) of complaints, and demands, will overwhelm(压垮，使不堪重负) bureaucracies built for the age of the post and the telephone(为邮政和电话时代而建). Too little is being done to prevent the state from drowning.
英国政府正举步维艰。铁路迟迟未建，坑洼无人填补。福利账单不断攀升，商店扒手逍遥法外。新任首相安迪·伯纳姆声称能让白厅运转起来；但话说回来，前任也是这么说的。然而，英国政府的运转能力即将急剧恶化——这对所有富裕民主国家都是一个警示。对当局提供的糟糕服务感到失望的公民，正转向人工智能来提交反对意见和上诉，并索取他们应得的权益。由此产生的投诉和要求洪流，将淹没为邮政和电话时代而建的官僚机构。为防止国家被淹没，所做的努力远远不够。
This inundation(泛滥，淹没) has been dubbed(被称为，被称作) “agentic flooding”, and its tides are lapping at(拍打，轻拍) bureaucracies everywhere, from tax appeals to welfare claims to parking tickets. The waters are rising alarmingly fast in Britain. As we report this week, while worries about AI dwell on the threats to safety and jobs, the backlog(积压的工作，未处理的事务) in employment tribunals(法庭，特别裁判所) has quietly risen by 55% in a year, in large part due to(在很大程度上由于) AI-fuelled claims. Demand for emergency injunctions(禁令，强制令) has surged(激增，急剧上升) 100-fold(一百倍). And the AI tide has only just begun to come in.
这种泛滥被称为“智能体洪流”，其浪潮正拍打着各地的官僚机构，从税务上诉到福利申请，再到停车罚单。在英国，水位正以惊人的速度上升。正如我们本周所报道的，当人们对人工智能的担忧集中在安全和就业威胁上时，就业法庭的积压案件在一年内悄然增加了55%，很大程度上是由人工智能驱动的索赔所致。紧急禁令的需求激增了100倍。而人工智能的浪潮才刚刚开始涌来。
Britain has long pioneered(开创，倡导) new political models, from the welfare state(福利国家制度) in the 1940s to the “third way”(第三条道路，中间路线) in the 1990s. It is also unusually vulnerable(脆弱的，易受攻击的) to the march of(…的推进，…的进程) AI-armed citizens, because its administrative traditions favour(偏爱，支持) the written submissions that AI is so good at drafting. And so the state must now innovate once again. The good news is that some in Mr Burnham’s cabinet grasp(理解，掌握) the scale of the challenge. Whether they can rise to it(成功应对，迎难而上) will show whether Britain can once again be a model to emulate(效仿，模仿), or a cautionary tale(警示故事，前车之鉴).
英国长期以来一直是新政治模式的先驱，从20世纪40年代的福利国家到90年代的“第三条道路”。它也异常容易受到武装了人工智能的公民的冲击，因为其行政传统偏爱书面提交，而这正是人工智能所擅长的。因此，国家现在必须再次创新。好消息是，伯纳姆内阁中的一些人意识到了挑战的规模。他们能否应对，将决定英国是再次成为效仿的榜样，还是成为一个警示故事。
The new LevAIthan
新利维坦