Using AI to read letters and forms

You can use AI to read letters and forms. It can show what a letter asks, by when, and what to do next.

The incoming mail pile

Official correspondence arrives in physical envelopes or as digital attachments. The work of managing this mail involves opening each document, identifying the sender, and locating the specific request. Some documents contain many pages of standard terms, where the actual request is hidden in a single paragraph. Finding the deadline requires scanning the entire text for dates. The person must determine if the document is an invoice, a request for information, or a general update. This process must be repeated for every piece of mail that arrives. The original document must be kept safe throughout this process.

This manual sorting requires close attention to detail. A person must read through standard clauses to find the actual instruction. They must compare dates across different pages to ensure they have the correct deadline. They must also identify which department or person needs to handle the request. This work must be done before any actual response can be planned or written.

The cost of administrative tasks

This administrative work has a cost. The source does not say what the exact cost in time or money is. However, the work of managing these documents manually takes resources away from other tasks. Every hour spent locating deadlines and sorting forms is an hour not spent on core activities. For organisations managing multiple clients or complex compliance requirements, this manual processing represents a constant administrative burden.

When aXai provides consulting services to help organisations set up these processes, the cost is $220 per hour including GST. This consulting help is designed to establish clear workflows for handling incoming documents. Other related services include an explainer video for up to 4 minutes to explain a service, a process or a policy for $199, or a training video for up to 8 minutes in up to seven scenes for $275. These tools help teams understand how to manage their administrative workflows.

What the technology handles

An AI tool can read the text of a scanned letter or a digital form. It can identify the main request, the deadline, and the next steps. The tool can draft a response based on the information provided. It can also fill in the fields of a digital form based on the details in the letter. This work is done with the original document kept safe. The AI does not send anything or submit any form on its own. The draft remains private and is not shared with the sender or any third party during this stage.

By processing the text first, the technology extracts the essential details. It presents these details in a clear summary, showing exactly what is required. This means the manual scanning of long documents is no longer necessary. The tool handles the initial reading and drafting, presenting the completed work to the person for review.

The decisions that stay with the person

The person keeps the part of the work that requires decision-making. They decide whether the drafted response is accurate and whether to send it. Nothing is sent until the person has read it themselves. The person decides what is worth doing. They choose how to respond to the request and whether to follow the suggested next steps. The AI handles the reading and drafting, but the person remains in control of the final action.

This division of labour ensures that human judgment is applied where it matters most. The person does not need to spend time searching for dates or copying information between forms. Instead, they focus on reviewing the draft, verifying the facts, and making the final decision. This keeps the responsibility and control entirely with the person.

Managing invoices and compliance notices

This approach is suited to tasks that involve high volumes of incoming mail. It is useful for managing invoices, registration forms, and official notices. It helps with documents that have complex layouts or long sections of text. Tasks that require careful verification of dates and deadlines benefit from this method. The tool can highlight these details so they are not missed. This is particularly useful for organisations that handle compliance documents or client inquiries.

For example, when a new registration form or compliance notice arrives, the tool can extract the key dates and requirements. It can prepare a draft response or populate the necessary fields in a submission form. This reduces the manual effort required to process each document. You can learn more about setting up these systems in our guide on how to set your AI's rules once.

Creating accessible administrative workflows

Using technology in this way allows more people to participate in administrative tasks. It removes the barrier of having to read through long documents to find a single instruction. People can focus on the decisions that matter rather than the manual sorting of mail. By keeping the human in control of the final step, the process remains secure. The person remains the coordinator of the work.

This method opens up administrative roles to individuals who may find manual document sorting challenging or time-consuming. It ensures that the focus of the job is on decision-making and quality control rather than manual data entry. For more tips on how to structure these tasks, read about why you should ask for a brief, not a chat.

This way of working keeps the decision with the person.

If you would like support to build this skill, AI mentoring is aXai's program for people with disability who want to learn AI tools for their own goals, at their own pace. You can register your interest on the page.

aXai is a disability-led studio that turns ideas into software and content with AI. AI takes the glue work — the chasing, the forms, the fourteenth retelling. People keep the part that was always theirs: deciding what is worth doing, and making it. New ideas. A different way of working. Read how AI-supported work works.