AI's growing role in rulemaking raises new transparency questions

Experts warned Monday that artificial intelligence could make federal agency decisions harder to explain and defend as the Trump administration pursues an aggressive deregulatory agenda. The panel was sponsored by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, a left-leaning group of more than 220 regulatory-focused organizations. Cary Coglianese, a regulation professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said agencies have used AI for years to analyze thousands of public comments on proposed rules. Ben Zipperer, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said he worries wholesale implementation of AI will provide a social veneer to slash regulations and downsize the federal government rather than improve public services. Zipperer contended there are higher stakes for federal agencies compared with private companies because improper usage could lead to individuals losing benefits or shaky legal justifications for government actions. Jonathan Walter, a senior policy counsel at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, warned that officials could use AI to shut out public feedback they object to on proposed rules. J.B. Branch, a technology expert at Public Citizen, raised concerns about the use of Grok, which has been criticized for generating racist comments. Lauren McFerran, the executive director of the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, cautioned that overreliance on AI during the deregulatory process could result in increased judicial scrutiny.