October 8, 2025

 

press@defendstudents.org 

303-646-7816

 

 

Washington, D.C. — The National Student Legal Defense Network (Student Defense) filed a complaint October 2 against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) following its alleged use of Artificial Intelligence systems (AI) to review and respond to public comments submitted in the rulemaking process.

 

The public comment period of the rulemaking process is legally-mandated to ensure affected Americans have a chance to make their voices heard. Interested parties can provide feedback on a proposed federal regulation, and then the agency weighing the new regulation must do its due diligence in considering and responding to that feedback before issuing a final rule. The possible use of AI raises questions about whether ED is genuinely considering public comments, especially since AI has had a tendency in the past to “hallucinate by producing false information,” including fake citations for use in legal briefs.

 

Student Defense originally submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) in July 2025 for the release of documents that reveal “whether and how AI is being used to analyze public comments in the rulemaking process, the specific processes involved, and who develops or provides these systems.” 

 

ED failed to respond. The new complaint asks the Court to require the ED to comply with FOIA requirements and to “make reasonable efforts to search for records responsive to the request.”

 

“There’s no question that AI is increasingly powerful. Although it can be used to fast-track certain tasks to increase productivity, it’s important to acknowledge AI is an imperfect tool with known issues such as hallucinations,” said Student Defense Senior Counsel Chris Bryant. “The public has a right to know the extent to which the federal government is using AI to rewrite regulations that define our rights.”