Sample AI Prompt: Constituent Response Letter
Disclaimer: The House of Representatives’ Chief Administrative Officer announced an official Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy in September of 2024. The policy can be accessed by Congressional staff behind the institution’s firewall on HouseNet. The below resource has not been updated in response to the policy.
Scenario
With the emergence of GenAI, there is a lot of both excitement and fear about the opportunities this new technology holds. Your office has begun receiving constituent emails asking about how the government is going to respond to GenAI and what their Representative — your boss — is doing. With your boss’s introduction of the Try AI in Government Act, your team wishes to ensure that the response letter to these constituents both addresses their fears and informs them of the solutions your boss’s introduced legislation would implement.
Task
Have GenAI help you with the first draft of a constituent response letter that addresses the general fears presented by the emergence of GenAI and also informs them of the Representative’s proactive legislative actions by introducing the Try AI in Government Act.
Tool
ChatGPT4Plus (approved for use in the House and Senate)
Tips
It is essential that PII is never submitted into a GenAI-powered LLM, such as ChatGPT. This means that if used to assist in drafting responses to constituent correspondence, the name, address, or any other identifying information of the constituent should not be put into the text box.
Additionally, it is also best practice to not copy-paste any constituent-generated content into the tool, but rather to summarize the constituent’s sentiments and questions to prompt assistance from the LLM in addressing the correspondence. Remember: all LLM-drafted content should be reviewed and re-written to match the Member’s voice, views, and policy positions, and double checked for accuracy.
Lastly, in this scenario, your boss’s bill has been introduced and the text is now publicly available. As such, instead of providing a bulleted summary of the bill’s intended effects, you could attach the bill text for the GenAI to review and draw from when addressing your prompt. (Alas, because the Try AI in Government Act is not real, we have continued with providing a bulleted outline.)
Prompt
Please help draft a constituent response letter from a Member of the House of Representatives to a constituent who has written in expressing fears about the emergence of GenAI. Generally, the fears they express are in concern to privacy, the technology taking over the government, lack of trust in "big tech" and overall fear of the unknown. Have the response express empathy regarding the constituent's sentiments and bridge this empathy with informing the constituent that the Representative is watching the situation closely and has already taken legislative action to address some of the raised concerns. The Representative introduced the Try AI in Government Act earlier this month. Below is an outline of the bill. Please have the letter conclude by thanking the constituent for writing in about this important issue and to stay informed of this and other legislative action by subscribing to the newsletter.
This bill, the Try AI in Government Act, does the following:
encourages the safe use of AI in government
establishes regulations regarding the use of PII by offices in using AI
defines the use cases of AI for government
creates a task force to continue to identify uses of AI in government
authorizes funding for the creation and rollout of employee upskilling to use AI
AI-generated Response
[Date]
[Constituent Name]
[Constituent Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
Dear [Constituent Name],
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns regarding the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies. I understand that the issues you raised, including privacy concerns, the potential for technology to influence government operations, distrust in large technology corporations, and the general apprehension towards the unknown facets of AI, are causing significant unease among many of our constituents.
I want to express my empathy for your sentiments and assure you that your voice is being heard. The apprehensions you’ve articulated resonate with a broader necessity for cautious yet proactive governance in the face of burgeoning technologies. It is essential that as we stand on the cusp of this new technological frontier, we proceed with a vigilant eye towards safeguarding our citizens' rights and privacy.
In response to these concerns, and in my commitment to ensuring that the integration of AI into our governmental systems is conducted safely and transparently, I recently introduced the Try AI in Government Act. This legislation is a crucial step towards establishing a framework that encourages the safe use of AI within government operations. Among its provisions, the bill:
Establishes stringent regulations concerning the use of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) by government offices employing AI technologies.
Clearly defines permissible use cases of AI in government, ensuring that its application serves the public interest without compromising ethical standards.
Creates a dedicated task force tasked with identifying future opportunities for AI in government, ensuring ongoing oversight and responsible innovation.
Authorizes necessary funding for the creation and implementation of upskilling programs for government employees, preparing our workforce for the AI-enhanced future.
This act represents a foundational move towards embracing the benefits of AI technology while addressing the valid concerns you and others have raised. By setting a precedent for transparency, accountability, and public trust in the deployment of AI, we aim to mitigate the risks and maximize the potential benefits for our society.
I sincerely thank you for writing in about this crucial issue. Your engagement is invaluable as we navigate the complexities of integrating new technologies into our government and society. To stay updated on this and other legislative actions, I encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter. Together, we can ensure that our approach to innovation is both forward-thinking and grounded in the values we hold dear.
Thank you once again for your engagement and trust. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any further questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Warm regards,
[Your Name]
Member of Congress
[Your District]
