Office of Personnel Management Launches Chatbot Pilot Program to Answer Retirement Questions

A new chatbot at the Office of Personnel Management is answering retirement queries from employees and customers as part of a pilot program that began in March. Erikka Knuti, an agency spokesperson, said the technology represents a chance to enhance customer experience.

She added that the program is meant to ease the burden on call center personnel of having to answer common questions, potentially freeing them up to tackle more complex matters. Speaking at the GITEC conference on Monday, OPM Chief Information Officer Guy Cavallo cited a four percent reduction in the Department of Veterans Affairs‘ telephone contact center traffic due to chatbot use.

Cavallo explained that the artificial intelligence tool is being used alongside existing customer service options for now, noting that it is only capable of receiving simple questions. He said his agency wants to expand the chatbot’s ability to answer questions.

Aside from retirement questions, Cavallo wants to deploy chatbots to support job applicants and aid human resources personnel in sifting through policy documents, among other use cases.

In addition, he is eyeing the use of generative AI to rewrite out-of-date job descriptions, Nextgov reported.