Inventory of NARA Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Cases
Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to drive the growth of the United States economy and improve the quality of life of all Americans. Executive Order (EO) 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government, directed federal agencies to inventory their Artificial Intelligence (AI) use cases and share their inventories with other government agencies and the public. As stated in the Executive Order, federal applications of Artificial Intelligence should benefit the US economy and improve the quality of life of all Americans. As such, the growing adoption of AI must coincide with the launch of practices that ensure AI is deployed in a manner that fosters public trust and protects the rights and values of the American people.
The National Archives and Records Administration AI Strategic Goals and Objectives as of 2024
The National Archives and Records Administration AI Compliance Plan for OMB
In alignment with Executive Order (13960) of December 8, 2020, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has prepared an inventory of AI use cases including current and planned uses, consistent with the agency's mission. The links below the following table summarize updates to the inventory of AI use cases by year.
| AI Use Case Name | AI Use Case Description | Current Status | What specific AI techniques are used? |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Pilot Project to Screen and Flag for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in Digitized Archival Records | NARA is using AI to automatically find and remove sensitive personal information from its digitized historical records. This will make the process faster, more accurate, and better protect privacy while allowing for greater public access to these records. The AI will also help NARA manage its vast collection and adapt to future privacy needs. | Pilot (in-progress) | The AI-powered PII detection and redaction project is underway, with a custom AWS model currently in development and being prepared for user acceptance testing. A parallel effort is evaluating Google Cloud Platform's out-of-the-box PII detection service. A final solution will be determined based on testing results and a comparative analysis of both options. |
| Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Discovery AI Pilot |
NARA is piloting the use of AI to improve its responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. This includes AI tools for finding relevant records and automatically redacting sensitive information, which will make the process faster, more accurate, and compliant with privacy laws. |
Pilot (in-progress) | The AI-powered FOIA processing project at NARA is currently in the pilot phase. Initial development of the system, which incorporates NLP-based search and automated redaction capabilities, has been completed. Testing is currently underway to evaluate the system's effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. |
| Auto-fill of Descriptive Metadata for Archival Descriptions | NARA is using AI to automatically create descriptions (metadata) for its digital archives. This will save archivists time, make records easier to find, and help the public better understand the information in the National Archives Catalog. | Pilot (in-progress) | The AI-powered solution is currently in pilot to automate the creation of archival descriptions (self-describing records). This process involves using machine learning to analyze document content and existing metadata to generate descriptive fields like summaries and authorities, improving the discoverability of records in the National Archives Catalog. The pilot project is currently underway, with business users evaluating the quality and accuracy of the AI-generated metadata. |
| AI based Semantic Search for National Archives Catalog | NARA is using AI to create a smarter search engine for its online catalog. This new search understands the meaning behind your search, not just the keywords, and can even find hidden connections between documents. This will make research faster, easier, and more insightful. | Pilot (in-progress) | The semantic search pilot project at NARA is currently evaluating various options. We have explored both open-source models and the AWS Titan model, as well as semantic search capabilities using Google Vertex AI, utilizing the Gemini large language model. Based on initial findings, the pilot has decided to proceed with Vertex AI for the semantic search functionality. |
|
Create an AI based knowledge articles user interface for working with CRG documents |
NARA is developing an AI-powered tool to help its National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) staff quickly find information in their Case Reference Guide (CRG). This will improve the speed and accuracy of their work, leading to better customer service and less time spent training new employees. |
Pilot (in-progress) | The AI-based knowledge chat interface pilot is currently evaluating various options for indexing and querying search results, including Amazon Kendra and Amazon Q Business. These solutions allow users to verify the information presented by providing links to reference documents. |
| Generative AI Solutions for Workplace Productivity |
NARA is exploring how Generative AI tools can help employees work more efficiently and creatively. These AI tools can automate tasks, enhance communication and collaboration, and improve decision-making. |
Pilot (in-progress) | The NARA pilot project is leveraging Google's "Gemini" AI model, integrated into Google Workspace applications (Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, Chat, and Meet), to enhance workplace productivity. The pilot involves approximately 50 users from various NARA organizations, each testing GenAI use cases relevant to their roles. This collaborative effort aims to identify how GenAI can best streamline workflows, automate tasks, and improve overall employee productivity. |
| AI Pilot for National Declassification Center (NDC) at NARA | NARA plans to use AI to automate the declassification of documents, making the process faster, more accurate, and transparent. This will improve efficiency, ensure consistency in applying declassification rules, and ultimately make more information available to the public. | Planned for future pilot (TBD) | |
|
Develop a Custom AI Model to Power Generative AI- Capabilities |
NARA plans to build a custom AI model trained on its own data, which will improve the performance of its AI applications. This will lead to more accurate and relevant results, a better user experience, and new possibilities for using AI in managing and accessing records. |
Planned for future pilot (TBD) | |
| Develop a natural language based chat interface (like ChatGPT) to interact with the archival documents |
NARA plans to develop an AI-powered chat interface, similar to ChatGPT, that will allow users to easily explore its digital archives by asking questions in everyday language. This will make historical documents more accessible and engaging, leading to more efficient research and a deeper understanding of history. |
Planned for future pilot (TBD) | |
|
Topic Summarizer and Entity extraction using AI |
NARA plans to use AI to automatically create descriptions for its digital objects. This will free up archivists' time and make it easier for people to find and understand the digital materials in NARA's system. | Planned for future pilot (TBD) | |
| Automated Data Discovery and Classification Pilot | NARA plans to test how well AI can automatically organize and categorize its data. This pilot project will help NARA understand its data better, find information faster, improve efficiency, and manage risks more effectively. | Planned for future pilot (TBD) |
2024 NARA AI Use Case Inventory_Bulk_Upload (updated December 2024)
2023 NARA AI Inventory (updated September 2023)
Any questions regarding the AI inventory can be directed to NARA Responsible AI Officials (RAIO) raio@nara.gov.