Latest news with #StateChat
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Business
- The Hindu
U.S. State Department cable says agency using AI to help staff job panels
The U.S. State Department will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by Reuters. The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which works using technology from Palantir and Microsoft, will be employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle around State Department employees. In a statement, a department spokesperson said the evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI." The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a substantial number of women and members of minority groups." The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables. Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy Ritualo, told a Palantir conference that StateChat had about 40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed. Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the boards, and previously selected members received emails saying their services were no longer required. Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and grades. That list would then be screened, for example for disciplinary and security issues, before being used to create the panels. There was no mention of female or minority representation. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination, and boosting diversity. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal obligations around women and minority group representation. Palantir and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages. Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government. In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to the president.
The Star
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
US State Department cable says agency using AI to help staff job panels
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the United States Department of State is seen in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by Reuters. The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which works using technology from Palantir and Microsoft, will be employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle around State Department employees. In a statement, a department spokesperson said the evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI." The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a substantial number of women and members of minority groups." The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables. Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy Ritualo, told a Palantir conference that StateChat had about 40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed. Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the boards, and previously selected members received emails saying their services were no longer required. Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and grades. That list would then be screened - for example for disciplinary and security issues - before being used to create the panels. There was no mention of female or minority representation. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination, and boosting diversity. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal obligations around women and minority group representation. Palantir and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages. Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government. In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to the president. (Reporting by Raphael Satter and Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Edward Tobin)
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US State Department cable says agency using AI to help staff job panels
By Raphael Satter and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by Reuters. The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which works using technology from Palantir and Microsoft, will be employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle around State Department employees. In a statement, a department spokesperson said the evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI." The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a substantial number of women and members of minority groups." The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables. Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy Ritualo, told a Palantir conference that StateChat had about 40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed. Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the boards, and previously selected members received emails saying their services were no longer required. Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and grades. That list would then be screened - for example for disciplinary and security issues - before being used to create the panels. There was no mention of female or minority representation. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination, and boosting diversity. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal obligations around women and minority group representation. Palantir and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages. Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government. In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to the president.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Trump administration creates ‘chatCBP' to help implement immigration policies
The Trump administration is quickly outfitting federal agencies with artificial intelligence tools, and the mystery surrounding how exactly these tools will be used is more than a little unsettling. Tech-focused outlet FedScoop was first to report on an AI chatbot being deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that's called 'chatCBP,' an apparent play on OpenAI's ChatGPT. As FedScoop reports: U.S. Customs and Border Protection is implementing an AI chatbot called 'chatCBP' for its workforce, following in the footsteps of similar federal government creations like DHSChat and StateChat. 'CBP's chatCBP is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve efficiency and access to information for CBP personnel while meeting CBP's security standards,' a CBP spokesperson told FedScoop in an emailed statement. FedScoop says it was also told by a CBP spokesperson that 'chatCBP offers features like document summarization, compilation, information extraction, and multi-file analysis, reducing the time spent searching for and interpreting documents.' Citing the spokesperson, FedScoop reported that the tool 'is designed to be used by workers and not to replace them. Those workers also receive training and guidance, and are reminded that their own judgment is essential when making decisions.' That having been said, it's worth noting that this report comes in the wake of reporting about how employees at the dubiously named Department of Government Efficiency have been dead set on replacing civil service workers with AI robots. And on that note, one U.S. official recently told The Washington Post that the end goal 'is replacing the human workforce with machines.' If you've detected a dystopian feel around the Trump administration's efforts to robotize some functions of the federal government, you're definitely not alone. FedScoop makes sure to note that the Department of Homeland Security began implementing AI chatbots during the Biden administration and that 'chatCBP' is just one of the chatbots being used by federal agencies — a troubling revelation. But one key difference between the Trump White House and the previous one is that Joe Biden prioritized rooting out bias in AI tools, while Donald Trump seems diametrically opposed to anti-discrimination efforts and AI regulation in general. And even if 'chatCBP' is being deployed to assist, rather than steer, federal employees' work, this is a slippery slope. We've already seen AI tools used similarly by law enforcement and security-focused agencies across the country — resulting in bias and discrimination. That's why AI experts and ethicists have been insistent for years about the need for transparency and restraint when AI is deployed in these arenas — because in lieu of oversight, such tools can discriminate under the guise of impartiality. And with the Trump administration so gung-ho about booting immigrants out of the country and so averse to measures that would help ensure AI tools remain ethical, there's no telling what any of the administration's chatbots will do for — or to — the Americans they theoretically exist to serve. This article was originally published on
