Contemplating Future Uses for AI in Forms: A FormFest 2024 Profile

Paul Craig

Look, Paul Craig gets it–AI can seem a little creepy, especially when it gets too close to your personal information. Here’s the thing, though: your personal information is already stored on a server somewhere, whether it’s through Gmail or Facebook or Verizon. So why not let AI use that information to fill out paperwork you’d rather not do yourself?

For now, this is theoretical. But probably not for long.

“I think the smart bet is that companies that already own lots of your data—phone providers in particular—have access to lots of personal details that they would be able to pull from to do these kinds of tasks for you,” Paul said. “For example, why not automate airport check-ins in one click and skip the 10 pages of upsells? There’s a question here about your data privacy, which is why I think that companies who you are already deeply integrated with have an obvious edge.”

Paul knows a bit about all of this. He’s a digital transformation pro by trade (current and past employers include the UK/US/Canadian governments, no big deal) and in his free time, which he spends creating public service-related applications (and also counting down to Groundhog Day). But he credits his girlfriend for his interest in AI-as-application-filler.

“She works for people who, by and large, offload all their admin work to someone else they pay to do it. ‘My passport needs to be renewed, please do it for me,’ that kind of thing,” he said. “Almost everybody would want this highly personalized, valet-style service, but it’s too expensive to scale broadly outside of a very unequal society. However, with AI, it is rapidly becoming possible.”

The important thing is not to get precious about any of it. Most forms are badly designed. AI can make sense of them so you don’t have to. The end result is the same; one way just saves you the headache.

“Forms provide a standard way to capture data in a consistent format—they’re a good solution for a particular kind of problem, but you can completely abstract away the interface layer here,” Paul said. “You can buy a VIA Rail ticket by phoning them and telling them what dates you’re traveling and the person on the phone does it for you. You can also ask someone you know to buy them for you and to do it, they might phone, use the form online, or go to the ticket desk in person. You don’t actually care how it happens, you just want the outcome.”

“Forms provide a standard way to capture data in a consistent format—they’re a good solution for a particular kind of problem, but you can completely abstract away the interface layer here,” Paul said. “You can buy a VIA Rail ticket by phoning them and telling them what dates you’re travelling and the person on the phone does it for you. You can also ask someone you know to buy them for you and to do it, they might phone, use the form online, or go to the ticket desk in person. You don’t actually care how it happens, you just want the outcome.”

FormFest Session Abstract & Details

All Things Artificial Intelligence

Breakout Session | December 4, 2024 | 2:15 PM-3:15 PMET

This session will walk you through some of the major changes AI is bringing to form design. Learn about the National Head Start Association’s use of AI to reduce administrative burden and the Canadian Digital Service’s tips for protecting government applications systems from AI.

Apply.ai: The next generation of form-filling applications and attacks

Paul Craig, Stevie-Ray Talbot

Custom AI assistants using the reasoning capabilities of large language models (LLMs) open the door for AI tools to actually apply on your behalf. Already have your data stored in Gmail or on Facebook? Well structured government forms could make it easy for AI to use that information to apply with a voice command and a few prompts. But greater standardization across forms and LLMs’ ease of use makes automated attacks easier. How do we differentiate between legitimate people in need and unscrupulous individuals? This talk includes a working demo of the concept and some key considerations for protecting government application systems.