Japan Digital Agency launches draft parliamentary answer AI to 180,000 staff

Drafting parliamentary answers is a task where accuracy and consistency matter under tight deadlines, and the Digital Agency notes staff must confirm question content, search past answers and supporting materials, and produce drafts in a short span. As policy issues grow more complex, the volume of background to grasp and follow-up questions to address has increased, leaving less time for the core work of understanding the intent of questions and refining clear answers.

The app is intended to assist with searching and organizing information, generating draft answers, and supporting verification, not to replace staff judgment. The agency states that AI output is not guaranteed to be accurate, citing hallucination risk, and that employees must check against source materials and confirm consistency with past answers and government policy. Final decisions on policy and answer content remain with staff, and the minister or other respondent remains responsible for the answer given.

Development drew on 102 experienced staff from 16 ministries and agencies recruited as evaluators, whose feedback on screen layout, usability and needed functions has already been reflected in some improvements. The prototype will be tested in the 222nd extraordinary Diet session, and improvements based on results and user comments are planned before full provision in next January's ordinary Diet session.