New book looks at agencies’ use of automation
Law professor Leigh Osofsky discusses her research and the pros and cons of chatbots explaining legal rules.
Government agencies have increasingly turned to chatbots, virtual assistants and other automated tools to interpret legal rules for the public. While these tools can make federal law accessible, they can often flatten out legal complexities, says Leigh Osofsky, UNC School of Law William D. Spry III Distinguished Professor of Law.
Osofsky, co-author of the new book “Automated Agencies: The Transformation of Government Guidance,” spoke with The Well about her research and the future of automation.
What made you want to research automation?
I started this line of research about 10 years ago with my co-author, Joshua Blank, a professor at the University of California at Irvine School of Law. We examined resources that the IRS uses to help people understand their legal obligations, like publications, tax return forms or frequently asked questions. These resources are integrated into TurboTax and other companies helping people with their tax returns. We noticed the law described in them is often slightly different than the actual underlying tax law. These differences may lead a taxpayer to forego a deduction they are entitled to take. Our research led us to wonder what other agencies in the federal government are doing and how automation might affect these trends.
How does automation help government agencies?
Federal laws are often too complex for people to understand, and yet they have to apply them often in their daily life, from tax returns to student loan relief. The book explores how agencies are using automation to help people understand how laws apply to them.
For example, if you were in the U.S. for part of but not the entire year, do you file a tax return or get an extension? If you were trying to figure out the answer by looking at the actual code and regulation sections, it would be quite difficult. Automated tools are a great way to help people understand the answers to basic questions they need to fulfill their legal obligations.
How have governments used automation?
Not only the federal government, but state and local governments are using automation. Especially during the pandemic, governments were overwhelmed with serving people who had questions about unemployment relief or changes to law and health regulations. Governments created automated responses to answer questions relating to unemployment issues and payment schedules. Veterans’ offices also automated legal guidance. When government offices started automating guidance to the public, they mimicked private sector automation. Examples in the private sector include using automation to work through issues with your credit card or resources for wealth management and investing.
What are some concerns about automation?
People should be wary about thinking that automation can deliver the same sort of relevant and precise answers that humans can about the law. The law has many ambiguities and uncertainties. Automation tends to smooth these out and make it seem like there are clear answers when there are not. To the extent that automation becomes embedded in decision-making in ways we cannot even see, we are more likely to miss the ways that automation glosses over the muddy points in the law.
How may legal guidance automation help people in the future?
Agencies could offer automated legal guidance and automated compliance. The IRS may interpret laws for you using automation and send a bill that you pay in an automated fashion. Automation offers us great benefits but comes with potential costs. Our book helps identify some of these benefits and costs, in thinking about how government will likely expand use of automation going forward.
