Japan begins AI trial to help officials draft answers to parliamentary questions

Japanese government officials now have an AI app to help prepare answers to lawmakers, including drafts that reflect political considerations. The Digital Agency has begun a trial through its Gennai platform, with an explicit boundary: officials, not the software, remain responsible for policy decisions and the answers ultimately delivered in parliament.

The agency listed the prototype’s launch among its October 30, 2026, official updates. Jiji Press reported the trial on November 2.

Gennai is the Digital Agency’s generative AI platform, available to about 180,000 government workers. That figure describes the platform’s reach, not the number of officials using this particular drafting app.

From a lawmaker’s question to several possible answers

The process starts when an official enters a lawmaker’s question. The app organizes and analyzes its main points, helping staff understand the question’s intent before parliamentary proceedings.

It then draws on past government answers and records of Diet deliberations to produce multiple draft responses within minutes, according to Jiji’s account published by Nippon.com.

The app also adjusts writing style for different purposes.

• Policy explanation mode: adjusts the writing to clarify the government’s policy direction.
• Political judgment mode: adjusts the writing to reflect political considerations.

The Digital Agency describes a wider preparation workflow around those drafts: searching past responses and supporting documents, predicting follow-up questions and checking for contradictions. It says the integrated functions are intended to improve the accuracy and consistency of government responses. That is the agency’s stated benefit, not a published result from this trial.

It’s very good that we can improve our work efficiency and create answers that contribute to deeper Diet deliberations

Toshiharu Furukawa, digital transformation minister, at a news conference Friday, as quoted by Jiji Press

Officials keep the final say

Officials can edit the generated drafts directly. The agency emphasized that staff will still clarify policy decisions, organize the government’s views and finalize answers, according to Jiji’s report in The Japan Times.

Furukawa also said he wanted feedback from other ministers. The next step is evaluation during the current Diet session, with the agency aiming for full-scale operation from the ordinary session in 2027.