SSA · no agency ID · record R3116

Policy Assistance Tool (PAT)

Social Security Administration · Chief Information Officer

Overview

Development stage: PilotSource: b) Pilot – The use case has been deployed in a limited test or pilot capacity.
High-impact designation: High-impactSource: a) High-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: 2025-09-16 (day precision)Source: 9/16/2025 0:00
Withheld from public reporting: NoSource: a) No

Mission

Topic area: Government Benefits Processing
Operational functions: Chatbot or virtual assistant Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The system is designed to help employees quickly and easily find accurate policy information, improving efficiency and the user experience for those who need to access agency policies.

Expected benefits

The system is expected to make it faster and easier for users to access accurate and up-to-date policy information. This will improve efficiency, streamline processes, and enhance service delivery, supporting the agency’s mission and benefiting the general public.

System outputs

Chatbot responses to users that are grounded in SSA policy data and provide links to policy documents referenced in the response. Management information reports, in the form of a dashboard.

Technology

AI classification: Generative AISource: Generative AI: AI that generates new or synthetic content (e.g., images, videos, audio, text, code).
System name(s): 21st Century PolicyNet
Custom-developed code: Yes
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Contract and in-houseSource: c) Developed with both contracting and in-house resources
Vendor (as reported): Microsoft / OpenAI
Vendors (standardized): MicrosoftOpenAI

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: Not reported
Training and evaluation data: Model used data from internal sources for performance and evaluation purposes
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

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

Pre-deployment testingReported in placeSource: a) Yes

AI impact assessmentReported in placeSource: a) Yes

Independent reviewReported in placeSource: a) Yes – by another appropriate agency office or reviewer not directly involved in the AI’s development

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

Operator trainingReported in placeSource: a) Yes, sufficient and periodic training has been established

Fail-safeReported in placeSource: a) Yes

Appeal processNot applicableSource: b) Not applicable

User and public consultationReported in placeSource: a) Direct usability testing

Potential impacts and how they were identified

There is the potential for the response to a prompt to include policy content that is not relevant or omit policy content that is relevant based on the interpretation of the prompt or the ranking of identified policy content. All prompt responses include references and links to specific policy documents that provide the content for the response. All PAT users are instructed to verify all responses for accuracy by reviewing the reference policy documents.