USPS Seeks To Use AI To Improve Info Access For Employees With LLM Chatbot

The US Postal Service is seeking to deploy a web-based AI chat-and-response assistant to help employees with a variety of tasks which require a tremendous amount of both institutional and external knowledge.

The proposal, filed on the Federal Register today, would employ a large language model-based chatbot to provide 24-hour assistance for USPS workers to improve information access, retention and recollection.

USPS employees perform a variety of tasks, requiring a tremendous amount of both institutional and external knowledge. As is the nature of most organizations, this information can often be siloed, difficult to reach, or highly specific.

To alleviate these issues and maximize efficiency, USPS will employ a large language model-based chat assistant for USPS employees. This assistant will improve information access, retention, and recollection among its workforce by providing an engaging and responsive 24-hour access-medium able to locate information quickly and with high levels of specificity.

This access will save countless hours of searching disparate sources for critical pieces of information, and will also allow the organization as a whole to see if there are any particular trends that require action, attention, or recognition at a higher level.

Deployment of this assistant will be highly constrained within the USPS Information Technology Infrastructure, with new data sources subject to enhanced scrutiny prior to integration with the chat assistant; this will ensure that privacy protections are taken with every step.

The Postal Service proposes to modify USPS System of Records (SOR) 550.000 Commercial Information Technology Resources—Infrastructure to integrate enhanced chat analytics, support, and reporting as follows:

Adding five new purposes to the system, including:

1. To provide employees access to a large language model based chat assistant.
2. To associate chat assistant conversations with individual USPS employee users for quick response and recollection.
3. To identify trends in chat assistant conversations for model refinement.
4. To ensure the accuracy of responses provided by the chat assistant to the end user.
5. To voluntarily provide data generated from chat assistant conversations to large language models for future model training and development

Adding one new record within the Information System Account Access category of records:

1. Document Uploaded to chat assistant

And adding three new records within the Productivity Analytics category of records:

1. Chat Assistant Conversation Records
2. Chat Assistant Usage Metrics
3. Chat Assistant User Data

USPS says access to the LLM may be provided to individuals with authorized access to USPS computers, information resources, and facilities, including employees, contractors, business partners, suppliers, and third parties as well as individuals participating in web-based meetings, web-based video conferencing, web-based communication applications, and web-based collaboration applications.

They also say they do not expect this amended system of records to have any adverse effect on individual privacy rights, but customers wanting to know if other information about them is maintained in this system of records may address inquiries in writing to the Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President at 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260 and include their name and address.

The move comes as now ex-Postmaster General Louis De Joy confirmed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be given "limited access" to agency data to “assist in identifying and achieving further efficiencies” before stepping down last week.

USPS DOGE team will have limited access to agency data, DeJoy tells lawmakers

DOGE will take a closer look at longstanding USPS problems, but may fall on Congress to make the necessary changes.

Federal News NetworkJory Heckman

These revisions will become effective without further notice on May 5, 2025, unless comments received on or before that date result in a contrary determination.

Comments may be submitted via email to the Privacy and Records Management Office, United States Postal Service Headquarters privacy@usps.gov.