The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) heavily uses artificial intelligence tools in its operations, including for transcription and in the redaction of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to multiple assistant U.S. Attorneys across multiple districts, the DOJ searched nearly all the Epstein-related documents using the Veritone aiWare suite of services coupled with the DOJ’s internally developed Intelligent Records Consolidation Tool. The DOJ developed the internal tool in concert with the Savan Group.
According to DOJ attorneys familiar with their development and use, both tools show high levels of failure when faced with large amounts of documents.
The Trump administration has gone all in on the use of AI-tools, as many of the larger companies have attached themselves to Trump administration priorities. On page three of the DOJ document announcing the Veritone usage plan, one paragraph raises questions about the accuracy of the tool.
“The level of human oversight needed varies by use case. For example, if a user were bulk transcribing phone calls for the purpose of searching for responsive content by keywords or phrases, there would be little to no human oversight required to correct the AI transcription results since the accuracy of each individual word is not as important as identifying the right phone call recordings to review.” (emphasis added)
Previous administrations assigned teams of attorneys to review documents related to high-profile cases like the Epstein files. Using the tool for transcription raises concerns about errors leading to unjustified investigations and warrants.
Dozens of attorneys who are normally dealing with trial preparation, deposition management, and other investigation focused areas are scouring the AI-powered redactions for errors. In one Epstein-related case, the information redacted in released documents could be revealed.
DOJ attorneys also told This Week in Worcester that DOJ leadership exerts disproportionate energy on attempting to identify leaks of information.
One Asstistant U.S. Attorney said:
“The level of energy that {Attorney General} Pam{ela Bondi} puts into searching out leaks, and identifying enemies compared to accurate legal work is hard to watch. At many senior staff meetings, high-level cases that are out of the media spotlight are being understaffed. These are corporate scams, murders, human trafficking, and even espionage cases that are not being taken seriously by her inner circle. These tools are not ready for prime time, and this case is too big for them to fail like this. Morale is at an all-time low.”
The DOJ has subjected attorneys working with the Epstein files to polygraph tests. It has also searched the personal devices of attorneys in offices suspected of providing information to This Week in Worcester related to reporting on a Department of Homeland Security plan to raid churches.
