Key Takeaways
- The US State Department plans to introduce an AI-based chatbot, StateChat, to form commissions for annual promotions and personnel changes.
- The Minority Equality Act of 1980 aims to protect the rights and create equal opportunities for ethnic and racial minorities in the United States.
- The American Foreign Service Association has asked the leadership to provide clarification on how the use of AI would comply with legal obligations.
Washington: The US State Department plans to introduce an artificial intelligence-based chatbot to form commissions responsible for annual promotions and personnel changes, Reuters reported, citing internal documents.
Corporate chatbot StateChat, created using Palantir and Microsoft technologies, will be used to select diplomatic employees for the certification commissions, the agency said.
According to internal documents, the StateChat system will play a key role in the “objective selection” of commission members, analyzing the service ranks and qualifications of diplomats. After the most suitable candidates are automatically selected, each of them will undergo a check for reliability and disciplinary violations.
The agency notes that nothing was said about compliance with quotas for women and ethnic minorities. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees, asked the leadership to provide clarification on how the use of AI would comply with legal obligations.
The Minority Equality Act of 1980 was designed to protect the rights and create equal opportunities for ethnic and racial minorities in the United States. It establishes measures to combat discrimination in various areas of life: in the labor market, in education, in the provision of housing and public services.
In addition, the law provides for quotas or targets aimed at increasing the representation of minorities in various structures, including the State Department.
However, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken out against the so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy, calling it discriminatory.
