AI could finally make congressional hearings work better

Sen. Bernie Sanders recently conducted a policy interview with Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic, to explore how artificial intelligence could improve congressional hearings. The experiment demonstrated that AI tools can generate more probing questions and make it harder for witnesses to dodge substantive policy inquiries—a persistent challenge in actual legislative oversight. Congressional hearings are often criticized for allowing evasive answers and prioritizing theatrics over detailed policy examination. The use of AI-generated questions could theoretically raise the quality of questioning and force more direct responses on complex issues. Sanders's demonstration suggests a potential model for improving how Congress scrutinizes policy and holds the executive branch accountable.