Congressional interns - join POPVOX Foundation and the Capitol Hill Intern Association for an exciting primer on leveraging AI during your internship! Our expert panel will provide an accessible overview of AI and how it is actively utilized in legislative offices on Capitol Hill.
The panel will discuss basic concepts like machine learning, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis. Our speakers will then delve into specific AI applications relevant to daily Congressional work, like using chatbots to handle constituent communications, employing AI to analyze legislation and surface policy insights, and leveraging AI for research and drafting memos.
Attendees will get actionable tips for utilizing free AI tools to enhance your work as an intern, from scheduling meetings more efficiently to summarizing research findings. Panelists will also discuss best practices for the ethical use of AI tools in a Congressional environment.
Bring your questions - this session will feature an interactive demonstration and Q&A on AI solutions any intern can take advantage of during their time on the Hill. Gain invaluable insight into how AI is transforming legislative work in Congress.
The event is hosted by POPVOX Foundation in collaboration with the Capitol Hill Intern Association.
Panelists
Taylor J. Swift is the Deputy Director of Governance & Innovation for POPVOX Foundation. Taylor's passion for better working conditions and pay for Congressional staffers, stronger federal workforce pipelines, and greater public access to legislative information has led him to become Deputy Director of Governance and Innovation at POPVOX Foundation. Prior to joining POPVOX Foundation, Taylor was a senior policy advisor at Demand Progress, focusing on Congressional transparency, efficiency, capacity, and modernization. Taylor also worked at the House of Representatives Democratic Caucus where he focused on budget, appropriations, education, labor, environmental, and tax policy. During his tenure at the Caucus, Taylor worked closely with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress to elevate the importance of increasing Congressional staff pay, retention, and diversity. Taylor graduated with his master’s degree from The University of Akron, working as a teaching assistant for the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. When Taylor isn't working, he enjoys hosting movie parties at the DC Alamo Drafthouse and biking around the nation's capital.
Jessica Smith is a Government Accountability Office Detailee for the Committee on House Administration. Jess is an experienced federal leader who focuses on science & tech policy and legislative branch oversight. Jess is currently detailed to the House of Representatives, where she has been making sure the House's first steps toward artificial intelligence use cases are on solid footing. Jess has held a number of senior positions in the US Government Accountability Office. She was most recently a Director in their Science & Tech team, where she had the honor of helping them grow their ranks while becoming more nimble in the products and services they offered to Congress. She had previously managed GAO's public affairs office during a time of digital and multimedia expansion. Jess holds a Bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University, a JD with a focus on intellectual property from Cardozo School of Law, and has studied data visualization at Harvard University's School for Continuing Education.
Aubrey Wilson is the Director of Government Innovation for POPVOX Foundation. Aubrey's driving passion is to raise awareness of all the good that is happening in Congress every day. As former Deputy Staff Director for the Committee on House Administration (CHA) in the 118th Congress, she played a lead role in making the House work more effectively. In this role, Aubrey also served as the Staff Director of the Joint Committee on Printing and oversaw the inaugural session of CHA’s bipartisan Subcommittee on Modernization. Prior, Aubrey served as Director of Oversight and Modernization for CHA during the 117th Congress following a year-long appointment as a Congressional Fellow. She is a former House legislative assistant and member of the R Street Institute Governance Policy and federal affairs team.
Stephen Dwyer is the Senior Director for Innovation at the House of Representatives’ Office of the Chief Administrator. Steve is helping lead the House of Representatives’ internal innovation efforts from the Chief Administrator's Office (CAO), working with the House Digital Service (HDS) team to build new apps and adopt new technologies like AI. Prior to 2023, Steve worked for Democratic Leadership in the House for 20 years, focused on tech policy, digital strategy, and modernizing Congress. He has a J.D. from Georgetown Law and double-majored in Computer Science and Philosophy at the University of Vermont.
Additional Resources
Stay up to date with the First Branch Forecast, a weekly newsletter focused on transparency and governance issues being considered by Congress, and the Capitol Hill Intern Update, a free weekly newsletter, specifically for interns, focused on understanding Congress, staying up-to-date on Congressional events, and sharing resources for career opportunities after an internship.
For additional resources for Congressional staff related to artificial intelligence, visit popvox.org/ai.
