The General Services Administration (GSA) has successfully deployed its proprietary chatbot, GSAi, to 1,500 federal workers. Developed over several months, the deployment of GSAi was accelerated under new leadership, marking a significant technological advancement for the agency. The chatbot is designed to support various "general" tasks, similar to commercial tools like ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.
The default model for GSAi is Claude Haiku 3.5. However, users have the option to switch between Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 and Meta LLaMa 3.2, depending on the task at hand. This flexibility ensures that the chatbot can cater to a wide range of needs within the agency. Tailored specifically for government use, GSAi promises to be a safe and effective tool for federal employees.
The engineering effort behind GSAi was led by DOGE operative Ethan Shaotran. The chatbot underwent a pilot test in February with 150 users within the GSA, which provided valuable insights and feedback. One employee described the product as being "about as good as an intern," highlighting its potential to streamline routine tasks.
“It’s about as good as an intern,” – an employee who has used the product.
The deployment of GSAi aligns with the strategic vision of Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer who now leads the Technology Transformation Services (TTS). Shedd aims to integrate AI into the agency's core agenda, fostering a results-oriented and high-performance team.
“We will be a results-oriented and high-performance team,” – Thomas Shedd, Technology Transformation Services (TTS).
GSAi is currently being utilized to support public-facing projects such as Login.gov and Cloud.gov. It also assists with tasks like generating newsletter ideas, drafting emails, creating talking points, summarizing text, and even writing code. An internal memo emphasized the chatbot's versatility and potential for improvement with new data inputs.
“The options are endless, and it will continue to improve as new information is added. You can: draft emails, create talking points, summarize text, write code.” – an internal memo about the product.
Despite its promising capabilities, GSAi comes with strict usage guidelines to ensure data security. Federal workers are advised against inputting nonpublic information or personally identifiable information into the system.
“Do not type or paste federal nonpublic information (such as work products, emails, photos, videos, audio, and conversations that are meant to be pre-decisional or internal to GSA) as well as personally identifiable information as inputs.” – a memo.
In addition to enhancing efficiency within the GSA, other federal departments like the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services are considering adopting GSAi for both internal use and outward-facing contact centers. This move could further transform how federal agencies manage communication and routine tasks.
The Technology Transformation Services plans a reduction in size by 50 percent in the upcoming weeks following the dismissal of approximately 90 technologists. This restructuring underscores a shift towards innovative solutions like GSAi to maintain productivity with fewer resources.
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