site.btaTimisoara Municipality Launches AI-powered Virtual Assistant for Citizens Services

After Romania introduced in 2023, a bot named Ion, the world’s first government adviser powered by artificial intelligence, which met with limited success, the country’s authorities are now giving technology a second chance. In the city of Timisoara, a virtual assistant based on artificial intelligence is already up and running. According to the municipality’s official website, the assistant operates around the clock and can communicate in nearly all foreign languages.

Through the chatbot, which cost RON 200,000 (approximately EUR 40,000), residents can book appointments to replace their ID cards, submit applications, and even file complaints.

"Every day, people come to Timisoara City Hall with all kinds of questions, while municipal employees face an ever-increasing workload. Now, we have Timi. It’s an assistant that tells you what you need to do if you want to build a house in Timisoara or if you’ve lost your ID card, for example," Mayor Dominic Fritz said.

The virtual assistant features a system that allows users to ask questions and hear the answers in audio format. Responses are generated based on information published on the municipality’s website. For certain services, such as registry functions, Timi can utilize data available in internal platforms, but only with the explicit consent of the user. Timi receives complaints from residents, it can automatically redirect them to the responsible departments, eliminating the need for citizens to identify the correct department themselves.

Timi has been designed as an evolving system that will be continuously improved through the addition and regular updating of official information.
Despite this, some local residents remain sceptical about the assistance provided by artificial intelligence, even though using such a tool could save time.

“I prefer to speak to a person face to face, but it would probably help,” a local resident told Romanian news television channel Digi24.

In the first hours after its launch, the assistant was tested by more than 1,000 users, the outlet reported.