A top Senate Republican, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), has raised concerns regarding the potential use of AI bots to manipulate the online public comment system managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This concern is particularly relevant as the BLM oversees over 18 million acres in his home state of Wyoming.
Barrasso, a known critic of public lands policies, has highlighted risks associated with foreign interest groups exploiting the system. He, alongside three Republican colleagues, introduced a bill aimed at ensuring that only U.S. citizens can submit public comments while implementing a filtering system to thwart AI bots. The bill’s future remains uncertain, and the extent of the issue is still unclear. However, the conversation emerges amidst broader discussions about AI’s potential to interfere with government and democratic processes.
Nigel Melville, a technology professor at the University of Michigan, emphasizes the need for thoughtful regulation to harness AI’s efficiency while mitigating harmful usage. The issue is not unprecedented; during the Federal Communications Commission’s rulemaking process on net neutrality in 2017, nearly 22 million comments were received, of which 18 million were later determined to be fake, according to a report by the New York Attorney General’s office.
The Administrative Procedure Act mandates agencies to consider public feedback when developing regulations, a process potentially hindered by AI-generated comments. Bridget Dooling, a law professor at Ohio State, has noted that federal agencies possess extensive procedures for assessing the integrity of public comments. In a 2023 paper published by the Brookings Institution, Dooling and colleagues argued that generative AI could exacerbate issues, making comments appear more persuasive and laden with seemingly credible evidence.
Barrasso’s bill specifically targets the Federal Land Policy and Management Act by restricting comments to U.S. citizens, potentially excluding foreign and AI-generated inputs. A Bureau of Land Management representative declined to comment on the bill, although Director Tracy Stone-Manning assured a Senate committee that the agency can differentiate between genuine and counterfeit comments.
A report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 2019 found that most federal agencies lacked systems to handle false comment submissions consistently. Dooling echoed these concerns, suggesting that barring non-citizens might deter legitimate U.S. citizens from participating, countering long-standing efforts to encourage public engagement in rulemaking processes.
For additional details, please refer to the full report on Bloomberg Law.