Dispelling Myths of AI and Efficiency

At the heart of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is quickly administering its “AI-first” strategy to cut government operations, is the myth that AI will deliver efficiency by slashing wasteful programs, identifying fraud, and automating the jobs of redundant federal employees. This myth reveals a profound misunderstanding of what AI can actually do and what the government is meant to deliver for the American people. A hasty rush to roll out untested AI will not result in high-quality government services. Instead, the unchecked use of AI will accelerate large-scale harms to the public, gutting critical services while offering no avenues for accountability and recourse. This policy resource provides empirical counterpoints to the technosolutionist myths surrounding DOGE.