Public Meeting Highlights Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications for Modernizing Declassification and FOIA Processing

On Monday, June 24, 2024, the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) held a public meeting in the McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building. William Fischer, PIDB Executive Secretary and Acting Director of ISOO, welcomed attendees and Mary DeRosa, PIDB Chair, gave introductory remarks. The public meeting featured presentations on projects using artificial intelligence (AI) applications for modernizing declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing at the Departments of State and Defense.

Timothy Kootz from the State Department outlined the challenges with the large volume of cables eligible for declassification review that render human review unsustainable. The cables document diplomacy conducted by the State Department and reporting by the diplomatic and consular posts overseas. The cables are historically significant and have high research interest. With the pilot implementation of AI augmented cables declassification review in 2022, the State Department was able to launch their first public release in late 2023. The pilot is intentionally designed to require humans to be in the loop. Currently, 450,000 cables have been reviewed in this process. Building on the success of the first pilot, State launched a second pilot for FOIA review, the 360 FOIA Matching Tool, which is currently in the testing and implementation phase.

The second presentation from the Department of Defense (DoD) focused on addressing the necessity to modernize the DoD's classified information management declassification program. With the growth of electronic classified information and without modernization, agencies will experience a "digital tsunami." A whole-of-government approach is going to be necessary to modernize declassification and prevent drowning in the tsunami. John D. "J.D." Smith, DoD, and Dr. Michael Brundage, Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS), gave an overview of the system engineering model for automatic declassification review. DoD is engaging with other federal agencies, including State, Department of Energy, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Smith and Brundage emphasized that declassification is and must continue to be human-centric even with the addition of AI.

The speakers and board members stressed the need for high-level government attention, and a coordinated approach, to projects like these, which seek to use technology to modernize classification, declassification, and other document review processes. Board members emphasized the importance of a requirement in the Amended Sensible Classification Act of 2023 that the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer to carry out research, in consultation with the PIDB and a variety of other government entities, on technology based solutions to support classification and declassification and how they can be implemented in an "interoperable and federated" way.

All this information and more can be found in the video of the event available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/2YaEa9OZW50?si=k0ErKcl9SyqKCEfL.

The agenda for the meeting is available on the PIDB's webpage.