Dr. Murphy asks whether AI could replace the Congressional Research Service; CRS says it will experiment cautiously

Dr. Murphy questioned officials at a House Administration committee hearing about whether artificial intelligence could or should replace the Congressional Research Service, saying an AI reply he tested answered "probably not." He framed the question from the perspective of rapid change in medicine and constituent services, asking how CRS will adapt over the next five years.

Dr. Murphy said AI has changed medical practice "literally in the last three years" and predicted "an explosion" of further change. He praised CRS as a nonpartisan provider of facts and cautioned that AI can produce politically skewed answers depending on search prompts. On constituent services he warned against using AI for confidential matters such as IRS or passport inquiries: "We get a lot of questions about the IRS. We get a lot of passport things that are all confidential, and they're not able to be queried. So I just I don't see that being an everyday part of this."

A CRS official replied that the service was not "running away from AI" and that CRS "wants to and needs to harness" the technology while preserving its standards. The official said CRS intends to experiment with AI tools, learn their benefits and limitations, and ensure outputs remain "authoritative," "nonpartisan," "timely" and "confidential." The official described potential uses including an AI research assistant and tools to analyze a much larger share of the roughly 17,000 bills introduced — not to replace CRS judgment but to help staff prioritize and scale review.

Committee members emphasized that any model should be trained on appropriate legislative data rather than relying solely on off‑the‑shelf systems. Speakers warned that building tailored models will be time‑intensive and require "constant monitoring" and adaptation. One member cautioned against AI producing excessive or extraneous outputs, saying, "the last thing we need is AI to spit out another 25,000."

The exchange closed with a request for continued collaboration between CRS and members to implement AI tools in real time while protecting confidentiality and the nonpartisan nature of CRS products. No formal vote or action was taken on AI policy during this hearing.