In an interview with Sam Le of GovCon Intelligence, David Timm discusses the profound changes AI is bringing to the federal contracting space. David has been closely tracking generative AI in procurement and has shared his insights on the legal and practical issues arising from its increasing use.

First, he points out a transparency issue. David identified approximately 50 civilian-agency generative AI use cases related to procurement, with one identified as a “high-impact” use case. He also discussed conversations with agency personnel and contractors, indicating that LLMs are being used in various aspects of bid evaluation. A recent public filing established that LLMs were used for bid evaluation, but the dispute concerns whether that use actually affected the final decision.

David pointed out that if AI is used for important stages of bid evaluation, such as compliance, summarization, and rankings, contractors should be informed about who—or what—is reading their proposal. David recommended that contractors begin “papering the record.” They should ask specific questions about AI use, particularly whether it is being used, which model it is, and exactly how it will be used. Asking these questions early can help contractors better understand the evaluation process and establish a record that could become important in a subsequent bid protest.

Another concern with AI use is its reliability. Just because an LLM can produce something polished, it doesn’t mean it is always factually correct. David pointed out documented issues like hallucinations, plausible but incorrect information, and prompt injection that can potentially discredit final bid decisions. AI usage must be able to withstand human review that is cognizant of these issues, should it be used in bid evaluations.

Based on David's research, he does not characterize AI as inherently harmful, but he proposes a more nuanced view and advocates evaluating AI use according to the risk and importance of the task. As both agencies and contractors continue to incorporate AI into the procurement process, existing tribunal principles may take on a new significance.

Listen to the full interview at Govconintelligence.com.