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Given their current trajectory, chatbots are on course to become the Goto tool to summarise information on the web. LLMs are trained to answer natural language questions with well summarised and confidently expressed text. This makes trusting their output as fact very compelling. However, due to how current models are built and even with the supporting information systems around them at runtime, the accuracy of their output still should not be blindly trusted. The authors demonstrate through a simple experiment how most current LLMs fail to accurately answer a UK statistics focused question. All answers provided were within expected bounds, and all were presented in an authoritative voice, but few were right and none were repeatedly right. The trouble is, as a result of their convincing tone these models can easily be assumed to be reporting the truth. As such, the risk of a propagating and using false statistical data will only grow.

Some of the companies in this sector are becoming aware of these issues and solutions are being proposed. However, these tools are currently being rolled out on supranational data and have yet to be tested on national ‘internal’ datasets.

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The promise of synthetic data is exciting, but its ability to revolutionise research remains a contested question. The industry needs to move past the hype and focus on its practical, high-value applications. Synthetic data presents undeniable advantages - particularly in privacy compliance and scalability - but its real value is more nuanced. Instead of replacing real-world data collection, synthetic data should be viewed as an enhancement tool that fills gaps, stress-tests assumptions and refines research methodologies rather than as a standalone replacement. This paper by the MRS Advanced Insights and Analytics Council explores its practical applications, challenges over-hyped claims, and lays out a more grounded vision for its role in market research.

The Assembly provided an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders, including from central, local and devolved governments, business and industry, academia, civil society and charities, to discuss and advise on future priorities for the UK statistical system. 

This independent report distills the key observations and recommendations. 

This paper by Paul A. Longley, James Cheshire and Alex Singleton reviews and assesses the prospects for developing geographically enabled research ready data (RRD) with reference to current UK initiatives. Examples of projects for which such data have been provisioned are given.

ONS Blog: Mary Gregory, Interim Director of Population Statistics, explains what is driving population growth and the progress the ONS is making towards producing new estimates which better meet user needs.