It’s been pretty wild to watch how hard sitting President Donald J. Trump has been backing AI, even with so many instances of AI tools going rogue and gaining unauthorized access to online institutions.
Even with all the warnings dished out by politicians on both sides of the aisle concerning AI, the current president has gone full steam ahead with his support of the rapidly evolving tech. So much so that he’s recognized it as a huge potential driver of economic growth and a tool that can be used to modernize government operations. With that second instance, a practical AI tool just launched with the intent of simplifying Americans’ access to the wealth of information and services scattered across government agency sites.
America.gov is now recognized as the Trump administration’s new chatbot that’s prepared to answer your inquiries about the information you’re looking for through official government sites. And with the power of Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s Grok backing it, the current administration’s AI tool promises to offer less of a headache when it’s time to find public resources.
My duties as an AI writer task me with testing chatbots every day, so of course I was chosen to see if America.gov is as amazing as it's touted to be. To be quite honest, it does exactly what it’s been promised to do.
Prompts that’ll get you shockingly productive results
I had to tag in ChatGPT to assist me with coming up with the proper questions to bring to the newly released, government-approved chatbot. These are the seven prompts that OpenAI’s chatbot gave me, which I went ahead and tried out myself:
- I’m a [number]-year-old American citizen living in [state]. Give me a list of federal benefits, tax credits, programs and services I might qualify for, and explain what I need to do to apply for each one. Ask me follow-up questions if you need more information.
- My passport expires in [number] months and I’m planning an international trip. Walk me through exactly what I need to do to renew it, how much it will cost, what documents I need, how long it normally takes and where I should apply.
- I want to make sure I’m not missing any federal tax credits, rebates or financial assistance programs I could potentially qualify for. Ask me the questions you need to determine which programs are relevant to me, then give me a personalized checklist.
- I’m considering buying my first home. Ask me questions about my income, location, household, military status, credit situation and other relevant circumstances, then identify federal programs, grants, loans, tax benefits or other government resources that I may be eligible for. Explain the requirements and how I can verify my eligibility.
- I’m trying to understand my Social Security options. Ask me the relevant questions about my age, work history, marital status and other circumstances, then explain which Social Security benefits or claiming options may apply to me, what the basic eligibility requirements are, and what steps I would need to take to apply.
With every one of these prompts, America.gov laid out applicable online resources I could go to find exact answers for whatever I was searching for.
For example, the second prompt resulted in me being presented with links to official guidance about renewing my passport, my eligibility for handling the renewal process through mail or secure online services, the documents I would need to perform either of those two processes, the full gamut of passport processing fees, etc. Then I was shown follow-up questions I should ask, such as “How do I track my passport status?”, “What are the photo requirements for a passport?” and “How do I apply in person if I am not eligible to renew by mail?”
And in the case of the last three prompts, America.gov did exactly what it needed to do by asking the appropriate questions it needed to get the information it required to help me even further. To give you a heads-up about the sort of questions that’ll come your way if you use the fourth prompt, here’s what I was asked:
- Location: Which state and city (not street address)? Urban, suburban, or rural?
- Household: Household size? First-time buyer (no principal residence in the last 3 years is a common definition for some programs)?
- Income: Approximate household income range (for example under/over area median)? Steady employment?
- Military: Veteran, active duty, surviving spouse, or National Guard/Reserve?
- Credit: Rough credit-score range (for example under 580, 580–660, 660+), or little/no credit?
- Other: Native American/Alaska Native? Public housing or HUD-assisted renter? Teacher, law enforcement, firefighter, or EMT? Disability related to service? Buying a manufactured home?
The takeaway
Suffice to say, America.gov gets the job done when you’re looking for a clue about the government services you need. Sadly, it won’t give you an overview of Area 51, tell you where the cheapest gas in your state is or give you a source-based summary of every major controversy surrounding the current president (trust me, I tried!).
But the government’s officially backed AI tool certainly gets the job done when it's time to look into your eligibility status for state/federal benefits, how to renew your passport and more.
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