DOI · DOI-0169 · record R2594

CHS Q Business AI Assistant (theKraken)

Department of the Interior · USGS

Overview

Development stage: PilotSource: b) Pilot – The use case has been deployed in a limited test or pilot capacity.
High-impact designation: Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: 2025-04-01 (day precision)Source: 4/1/2025
Withheld from public reporting: NoSource: a) No

Mission

Topic area: Administrative Functions
Operational functions: Summarization Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The AI Assistant is designed to address the challenge of quickly finding and using information spread across multiple platforms like GitLab and Confluence. Instead of employees spending valuable time searching through scattered documentation, theKraken provides a centralized tool to query, summarize, and generate content directly from CHS resources. This strengthens the agency’s mission by enabling staff to focus on high value work rather than time consuming administrative tasks.

Expected benefits

The AI Assistant has significantly enhanced the new employee onboarding experience by acting as a personalized guide to our data. It provides a centralized place to ask questions and quickly access information.

System outputs

Generated natural language responses to user queries.

Technology

AI classification: Generative AISource: Generative AI: AI that generates new or synthetic content (e.g., images, videos, audio, text, code).
System name(s): Not reported
Custom-developed code: No
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Developed in-houseSource: b) Developed in-house
Vendor (as reported): Not reported
Vendors (standardized): None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII: No
Privacy Impact Assessment: Not reported
Authorization to Operate: Yes
Demographic features: k) None of the above
Training and evaluation data: Internal data from GitLab and Confluence
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

6 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Pre-deployment testingNo answer reported

AI impact assessmentNo answer reported

Independent reviewReported in progressSource: d) In-progress

Ongoing monitoringReported in progressSource: b) Development of monitoring protocols is in-progress

Operator trainingReported in progressSource: b) Establishment of sufficient and periodic training is in-progress

Fail-safeNot applicableSource: b) Not applicable

Appeal processNot applicableSource: b) Not applicable

User and public consultationReported in progressSource: e) In-progress

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Potential to predict locations of critical minerals on the seafloor