Introduction to AI in Government
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government decision-making has raised concerns among transparency advocates. Recently, it was revealed that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) used AI to inform policy decisions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). However, the agency is denying Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information on the development and use of AI tools and their impact on policy decisions.
Key Players and Documents
Several key players are involved in this story, including:
- Christopher Sweet: a third-year student at the University of Chicago who joined the DOGE team at HUD
- Scott Langmack: executive director of deregulation AI at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under the Executive Office of the President
- Tori Noble: staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Mark Fagan: lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School
- Dan Mc Grath: senior oversight counsel at Democracy Forward
- John Davisson: deputy director of enforcement at the Electronic Privacy Information Center
Some of the key documents mentioned in the story include:
- “GPT defined Econ Analysis approach 11 10 25.docx”: a document labeled as “deliberative AI input” that was exempted from FOIA
- “Regulatory Analysis Prompt.pdf”: a document that appears to indicate the DOGE team was looking into creating prompts to conduct regulatory analysis
- “Prompt.pdf” and “PROMPT+AB2(alr)+ab.dox”: documents labeled as “deliberation of AI prompt” that were exempted from FOIA
- “DFR Template_Workflow Prompt Directory (3).pdf”: a document exempted because it involved “deliberation of regulatory changes” and “presidential communications privilege”
As Tori Noble notes, “It’s not necessarily the case that we’d always know how tools are being used… So having access to the prompts is really the best way to be able to tell what officials are using these tools for and how harmful those uses might be.”
Concerns and Implications
The use of AI in government decision-making raises several concerns, including the potential for bias and lack of transparency. As Mark Fagan notes, “If AI is being used to assess policy as one of the tools in the toolkit, I think at this stage in the development and use of AI, it is good protocol to indicate that… In part to try and build confidence in the use of AI in government.”
The denial of FOIA requests for information on the development and use of AI tools has sparked criticism from transparency advocates. As Dan Mc Grath notes, “It’s concerning that the government is shielding records about how it uses AI in policymaking. If the government is going to use AI in formulating policy that affects us all, the public has a right to understand its impact.”
For more information on the use of AI in government, see our previous articles on Anthropic’s Fable 5: The AI Safety Crisis and ELIZA Chatbot: AI Pioneer .
FAQ
- Q: What is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)?
- A: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a government agency responsible for improving the efficiency of government operations.
- Q: What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
- A: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that allows citizens to request access to government records and information.
- Q: Why is the government denying FOIA requests for information on AI tools?
- A: The government is denying FOIA requests for information on AI tools, citing exemptions for “deliberative process” and “presidential communications privilege”.
Source: Original Article