Can AI do Congress’s work for it?

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News reports and opinion pieces nowadays are filled with criticisms about Congress’s inability to carry out its Article I responsibilities. All kinds of reforms have been suggested, from imposing age limits on senators and representatives, to abolishing Senate filibusters, to docking members’ pay for every day the appropriations process is not completed on time.

These reforms seem fanciful, since members are not into self-flagellation or involuntary retirement. The criticism of Congress, however, is valid and poses the question of whether there is not some alternative way to get things done, other than continuing to yield to executive branch usurpation of its responsibilities.

One possible solution for restoring Congress is to turn more of its work over to artificial intelligence, or AI — reputedly the smartest and fastest computerized problem-solving device on the planet. After all, AI is nothing more than a compilation of the wisdom of the ages that can be tapped at warp speed to convert complex data into simple, easily understood solutions.

Putting this scientific breakthrough at the service of democratic governing makes considerable sense if it is properly programmed to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. Call it a double dose of AI — combining Congress’s Article I powers with AI’s capabilities. All this may sound a bit tongue-in-cheeky, but AI is already being used to perform various routine tasks on Capitol Hill. It has not, however, been put to use to directly perform Congress’s lawmaking function.

Members would understandably be reluctant to cede much of their legislative responsibilities to machine-generated algorithms. That could prompt public demands to turn over more important tasks to AI — like actually governing, leaving members feeling like superfluous relics.

Such a prospect is highly unlikely. There are already enough sci-fi thrillers about machines taking over the world. To even imagine such a scenario being replicated on Capitol Hill is beyond reckoning. Just as the combine and milking machines did not take over farms, typewriters, followed by word processors, laptop computers and tablets, will not likely replace thoughtful lawmakers (providing they remain thoughtful).

Modern technologies are designed primarily to make life for humankind simpler, more efficient, and less arduous. Artificial intelligence is just one additional step forward in that process. The only new thing in this progression of automated computational powers is its conflation into the simple abbreviation, AI.

In recent times, Congress recognized that it was behind the curve in upgrading its own operations utilizing modern technologies. In the 116th and 117th congresses (2019-2022), the House created a Bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. In the 118th Congress (2023-24), it transferred the select committee’s work product to a Subcommittee on Modernization and Innovation in the House Administration Committee to oversee the implementation of the select committee’s reform recommendations and make any additional suggestions.

The non-partisan Bipartisan Policy Center has been tracking these developments. In its report at the end of the 118th Congress the center found that of the original 200-plus recommendations made by the select committee, 102 have been closed or implemented, 48 are in progress, and 52 remain unaddressed.

Beyond that, the Bipartisan Policy Center noted that the follow-up modernization subcommittee spearheaded an investigation into how artificial intelligence technologies can impact chamber operations, issuing eight reports on general strategy and guidelines for the House’s approach to AI.

For example, the House Clerk’s Office, in conjunction with House Digital Services, has unveiled a new “committee portal” — a one-stop interface to support committee operations, including results of committee votes, bill referral and tracking.

The report concludes that the modernization efforts have spurred the beginning of a shift in the culture of Congress to being more self-evaluating of its systems and processes.

One of the new outside partners in this endeavor is the POPVOX Foundation, created by former Hill staffers to assist today’s busy congressional staff. One of its central projects has been to convene House and Senate staff for off-the-record discussions about AI and how it can be utilized to increase office workflows and productivity.

The POPVOX newsletter is appropriately titled, “Future Proofing Congress.” Its May 16 newsletter is especially informative and helpful on the most recent developments in AI and Congress, with useful links to such things as House and Senate AI use rules and tools, as well as relevant news articles.

Although AI will never turn into the machine that ate Congress, it is already proving to be the technology that helps feed and sustain the people’s branch of government.

Don Wolfensberger is a 28-year congressional staff veteran, culminating as chief-of-staff of the House Rules Committee in 1995. He is author of, “Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial” (2000), and, “Changing Cultures in Congress: From Fair Play to Power Plays” (2018).

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