Do you receive a letter from your municipality or another authority that you still don’t understand after reading it 3 times? Maybe artificial intelligence (AI) can help you then. Check out the free Read Simple app.
Common Woolly Tongue
Government communication is sometimes official, formal and complicated. It can be difficult to understand a letter from the municipality, the tax authorities or the health insurance, especially for the approximately 2 million people with low literacy skills in the Netherlands. Initiatives to draw attention to this have been around for some time. For example, the municipality of Apeldoorn offers the possibility of reporting woolly language in official letters. You can then retrieve a simplified version of the same letter. Additionally, Stichting Leer Self Online offers stickers, which you can use to return overly complicated letters to the sender. MAX Meldpunt provides more information on this initiative.
just read
But your smartphone can also do it for you. The Lees Simpel app, supported by the Dutch government, is available for iPhone and Android. This app “translates” letters and summarizes them, using artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT technology. We explain in detail what this means in this article.
How does the app work?
You take a photo of the letter with your smartphone. The Lees Simpel app then scans the text and explains the contents of the letter step by step. Who is the sender? What is the message of the letter? What does the sender expect from you? What should you do for this? And when?
The app sets it up in seconds, including icons to make the message visual. It can be compared to the Google Lens app, which you can use to translate foreign menus, for example. Producer Tycho Litjens gives a practical example of the application in the video below.
We’re creating the app to help everyone read letters (and bulky documents/emails) 🎈
Thanks to @sidnfonds who see it socially and support us financially. 🙏
— Tycho Litjens (@tychography) May 30, 2023
Is the Lees Simpel app reliable and secure?
Please note that the application is still in the development phase. ChatGPT technology is also still in development (and therefore not flawless). Does the app already know the most complicated legal terms? ‘Everyone summarizing makes choices: what do you take with you and what don’t? Whether you are a human or an AI language model,” the makers are also a bit cautious. “But most summaries are accurate and much easier to read than the letter itself.”
You do not need to create an account to use Lees Simpel. Additionally, a scanned letter will disappear from the app’s “memory” after 30 days, to protect your privacy. If you want to be completely sure of your privacy, cover your name and address on the letter.
(Source: Archives, MAX Meldpunt, Government, Leessimpel.nl, Municipality of Apeldoorn, Steffie.nl (Stichting Leerzelf Online), Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland. Photo: Shutterstock)