Matteo Wong details the Trump administration’s rapid implementation of AI to replace human civil servants, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The General Services Administration (GSA) is piloting a generative AI chatbot with 1,500 employees, potentially expanding it to 10,000. The chatbot, originally an internal AI testing tool, has been repurposed as a productivity booster amid widespread government layoffs.
Thomas Shedd, GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) director, advocates an “AI-first strategy,” envisioning AI handling coding, contract analysis, and finance functions. While AI is already used in workplaces, this rollout represents a larger effort to shrink the federal workforce. DOGE has reportedly used AI to assess agency spending, determine job cuts, and plans to apply AI at the State Department for scrutinizing student visa holders’ social media.
The chatbot, once known as “GSAi” and now called “GSA Chat,” functions similarly to ChatGPT, drawing on AI models from Meta and Anthropic. GSA ultimately aims to deploy it across government agencies under “AI.gov.” However, reasonable concerns persist about AI’s accuracy, bias, and security risks. Early users have been warned about AI “hallucinations” (false information), privacy risks, and biased responses.
Trump’s administration aggressively pushed the chatbot’s development, disregarding the Biden administration’s cautious AI policies, which stressed transparency and rigorous safeguards. Biden’s AI regulations were overturned on Trump’s first day in office, with the White House dismissing them as excessive government control. Now, DOGE is deploying AI without extensive testing, effectively using the federal government as a large-scale AI experiment.
AI-driven downsizing of the civil service is reckless. GSA employees worry about flawed AI analyses leading to false fraud accusations or misinformed budget cuts. While AI has potential benefits, the administration’s rush to automate critical government functions raises alarms about oversight, accuracy, and the broader implications for governance.