The U.S. State Department just changed the game. For the first time ever, an AI chatbot is helping decide who gets to sit on the powerful panels that choose who gets promoted or moved. This isn’t just a shortcut; it’s a bold and surprising move into a future where machines now help shape human careers at the highest level of government.

Meet the Chatbot Helping Shape U.S. Diplomacy

The tool behind this shift is StateChat. A smart AI system developed in-house using technology from Palantir and Microsoft. Its new role? Helping select Foreign Service Officers who will sit on the Foreign Service Selection Boards. These boards play a key role in deciding who moves up in their career or gets a new assignment abroad.

The State Department made it clear that AI won’t be making the final judgments. Human panelists will still review performance and decide on promotions. But letting AI help choose who sits on those panels is a major change. It’s especially notable because, under the 1980 Foreign Service Act, these boards are supposed to include a substantial number of women and members of minority groups.” How AI will handle that part isn’t fully clear yet.

AI on the Inside: StateChat’s Quiet Rise

StateChat isn’t new to the department. It’s already being used to write emails, transcribe meetings, and even analyze diplomatic reports. According to Amy Ritualo, the department’s acting chief data and AI officer, around 40,000 employees have used StateChat so far. What’s new is its role in helping with sensitive staffing decisions, a responsibility that was never shared before.

Just last month, the department delayed the selection boards and people who had already been picked were suddenly told they wouldn’t be needed. Now it turns out that the delay was tied to the rollout of AI. A recent internal message said the chatbot would now create an “unbiased” shortlist of candidates, based on skill codes and job levels. That list would then be checked for security or disciplinary concerns before final selections are made. Notably, there was no mention of how gender or minority representation would be handled in this process.

AI Is Choosing, But Is It Choosing Fairly?

This change comes at a time when diversity programs are under the spotlight especially with Donald Trump’s administration often pushing back against what it calls “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents department staff, hasn’t given a direct opinion on the AI system yet. But it has asked the leadership how the legal requirements to include women and minorities will still be followed with AI now involved.

Meanwhile, other federal agencies are also turning to AI. Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is expanding use of its Grok chatbot across departments. And although the State Department’s AI efforts began before Trump’s reelection in 2024, his current administration is pushing forward with wider use of such tools. What happens next could shape how government hiring works for years to come. Will AI truly make selections fairer? Or will new challenges around fairness and representation emerge? For now, all eyes are on the State Department as it leads the way into this new chapter.