AI-Drafted Bills Overwhelm House Office
Congressional staffers and outside groups are leveraging Claude and ChatGPT to draft legislation, according to Politico. The House Office of Legislative Counsel, responsible for ensuring the quality of US laws, is now spending more time fixing AI-generated bills than it would take to create them from scratch.
The Growing Strain
- "More time trying to fix AI-drafted legislation than it would take for them to draft it from scratch," stated a source familiar with the office’s processes.
- Four House staffers involved in drafting confirmed that AI use is becoming commonplace.
- One staffer expressed concern, calling it "terrifying, and no one is thinking about it yet."
The Role of the Legislative Counsel Office
The House Office of Legislative Counsel plays a crucial role in the legislative process:
"When we talk about Congress’s ability to legislate, we are talking about this office," said Marci Harris of the POPVOX Foundation.
In the 118th Congress, they prepared an impressive 30,494 bills (an increase of 188%) and 21,484 amendments (a rise of 46%).
AI’s Shortcomings in Bill Creation
AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT have limitations:
- Tax Credit vs. Tax Deduction: AI struggles to differentiate between these financial mechanisms.
- Definitions: Misinterpreted definitions can lead to unintended consequences, such as excluding Washington DC and tribal nations from federal programs.
- Citations: Incorrect statutory references could introduce thousands of bugs into the legal system.
Daniel Schuman, a lawyer and technologist, agrees: "AI is good for a lot of stuff, but it’s not capable of drafting legislation that you would want to enact into law."
Overwhelmed Systems
The rapid increase in AI-generated content has led to official pipelines becoming overwhelmed. This issue echoes previous challenges with AI-invented software vulnerabilities, reported in August.
Politico cited a 72% rise in requests for the first 60 days of the current Congress compared to the same period in the previous Congress (5,623 vs. 3,271).