The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an artificial intelligence helpdesk support chatbot, officials announced this week.
The large language model-driven bot, currently in beta testing, brings a “smarter, more conversational experience to Veterans looking for answers – and it’s just the beginning,” Luciana Morais, a product owner at VA, said on LinkedIn this week.
“Getting here was truly a labor of love, including standing up our own AI Governance documents to make sure we did this thoughtfully and responsibly,” Morais wrote. “We will be continuously monitoring, learning, and improving to make sure it truly serves the Veterans who rely on it.”
Currently available on the “Contact Us” page, the website hinted at upcoming developments beyond improving the model. Personalized experiences through sign-in, live agent support and use across more VA pages are on the way later this year, the website said.
“We’re committed to making the chatbot more useful over time, while keeping it secure and accessible for every Veteran, including those who use assistive technologies,” it said.
Quinn Slaven, VA press secretary, said the agency is “making it easier for Veterans to access helpful information about the care and services we provide.”
“Every Veteran is different and has different needs, so the intuitive, user-friendly VA chatbot is designed to improve our website’s navigation and help Veterans find the information that is most relevant to them,” he said in a statement to FedScoop.
While the chatbot will not connect users with a person, it can direct them where to go to find answers to common questions about benefits and services, the website said. As a disclaimer, it is not for any emergency or medical use, AI responses may include inaccurate information and users are discouraged from using personally identifiable information, the site said.
Regardless, the bot will not collect any identifying information, nor use any information to contact users or “combine your information with others as a summary to study for ideas to improve our chatbot tool,” it said.
AI has been saving veterans time in other areas of the department, Technology Modernization Fund acting Director Jessie Posilkin said earlier this year. The fund’s investment to digitize and centralize forms using AI is going to save over 2,000 years of veteran time, she said.