DOGE Initiative Guided by Elon Musk Cuts Employment by Half, Now Employs AI Bot GSAi
In an important move towards automation, the DOGE initiative associated with Elon Musk has launched its own chatbot, GSAi, to replace some out of the recently terminated 1,500 employees of the General Services Administration (GSA). The Los Angeles-based firm has developed a new generative AI that is expected to perform more government-specific tasks that include composing emails, programming, and summarizing documents. In the future, GSA will automate contract and procurement analysis using the tool.
Implementation and Testing
GSAi has been in a testing phase for the past month. Currently the chatbot has been deployed to 150 employees and DOGE aims at GSA Ai full deployment within the shortest time possible. Users of The Claude Haiku 3.5 generative AI model have a choice of switching to Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 or Meta LLaMa 3.2 for other specialized tasks.
The staff has received a memo with instructions on how to actively use the chatbot with a caveat:
“Don’t enter or copy non-public federal data (work products, emails, pictures, videos, audio, or pre-decision/internal GSA communication) or personal identification data into the chatbot.”
GSAi Garners Mixed Feedback
Remaining employees argue that while GSAi has numerous possible applications, its responses tend to be unimaginative and uniform.
One employee who preferred to remain anonymous noted that they were unhappy with the chatbot and what it could achieve.
Rise of Chatbots in Federal Offices
The use of AI chatbot tools in federal offices has steadily increased since the Trump administration, most notably with GSAi. Other agencies have adopted these tools as well:
- The HHS and the Treasury Department are known to have AI solutions (whether they are GSAi or other systems is still unknown).
- A CamoGPT chatbot, which aims to scrub U.S. Army offices of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) culture, has also been added.
- The Department of Education is looking to implement generative AI for administrative support in the near future.
A Growing Trend
The use of AI tools, particularly AI chatbots, with federal employees is part of a larger movement that is shifting government work processes toward automation. The prospect of enhanced productivity comes with risks of employment diminution and the standard of produced AI content. As federal institutions start embracing more sophisticated solutions, finding the right balance between innovation and its effect on people continues to remain an important challenge.