AI-Enhanced Security Clearance Tools Pass First of Many Hurdles

Research targeting the sluggish federal security clearance process is putting artificial intelligence in the interview loop.

Currently, it takes 142 days to receive a top secret clearance and 83 for secret. The process sometimes dragged on for more than a year in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, according to an Office of Management and Budget official.

A new pilot program is aimed at creating a fully scaled tool to assist in detecting deception—someday—but several more steps of testing need to come first.

The Performance Accountability Council commissioned RAND Corp. to engage in an exploratory proof-of-concept study of the effectiveness of ...