Lawmakers propose to establish AI guardrails for VA in FY27 funding

"Gosar's measure would block VA funding from being used "to make a final determination with respect to the approval or denial of a claim for disability compensation under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs using artificial intelligence.""

"VA has used AI and automation to speed up its processing of veterans benefits claims, although some lawmakers and veteran service organizations have expressed concern about officials ceding too much of their decisionmaking authority to the technologies. The agency has stressed that humans always make the final claims decisions and that the AI tools act as more of an automated information retrieval system."

"Gosar spokesman Anthony Foti said the congressman's amendment would "establish a clear safeguard within the VA disability claims process" to ensure that human reviewers always make the final decisions, adding that Gosar "believes it is important to establish appropriate guardrails before these technologies are relied upon for consequential adjudicative decisions.""

Proposed amendments to the FY27 funding bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs aim to limit the agency’s use of decisional or unapproved artificial intelligence tools. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the VA funding proposal and the amendments. Separate proposals from Reps. Paul Gosar and James Walkinshaw call for additional oversight of VA’s AI deployments. Gosar’s measure would prohibit VA funding from being used to make final determinations on disability compensation claim approvals or denials using artificial intelligence. VA has used AI and automation to speed processing of veterans benefits claims, while some lawmakers and veteran service organizations have raised concerns about officials ceding decisionmaking authority. VA maintains that humans make final claims decisions and that AI functions as automated information retrieval rather than final adjudication.

Read at Nextgov.com