A Republican Senate staffer is being told that a company is undermining the President’s agenda. A Democratic staffer in the House is telling her boss that a particular policy proposal will harm suburban voters. Neither of them picked up the phone. Neither of them read a white paper. They asked an AI.
This is the new reality of Washington, and most organizations operating here have no idea it’s happening.
AI is entrenching itself in policy and public opinion in ways that are largely invisible to companies, associations, embassies, and nonprofits that depend on favorable policy environments. The answers AI provides influence and change what and how we talk about organizations and issues, often before a single lobbyist walks into an office, or a single press release crosses a reporter’s desk.
The Numbers Are Changing Fast
This isn’t a trend on the horizon. It’s already here, and it’s accelerating at a pace that should give every public affairs professional pause.
Use of AI by state legislative staff surged from 20% in 2024 to 44% in 2025, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. On Capitol Hill, two-thirds of congressional offices are now actively using AI tools, according to the Washington Examiner. And Washington, D.C., itself leads the nation in per-capita AI usage — outpacing even tech-heavy states like California and Washington, according to Axios.
Perhaps most striking of all: a December 2025 study published in Nature found that AI chatbots moved voters’ opinions three times more effectively than political advertising.
Let that sink in. Three times more than political ads.
In 2024, the use of AI among legislative staff was new. In 2025, it was notable. In 2026, it is exploding.
What This Means for the Influence Game
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity have become the new front page of the internet. When a congressional staffer needs a quick brief on a company’s environmental record, they’re not necessarily waiting for your coalition’s one-pager. When a think tank analyst is summarizing a complex regulatory debate, they may be starting with an AI query, not your white paper. When a journalist is preparing background on your industry, an AI chatbot may be shaping the frame before they ever contact your communications team.
Policy decisions are increasingly shaped by what AI says about issues and organizations, and what AI says is shaped by the information ecosystem that existed before you thought to pay attention to it.
This creates a profound new vulnerability — and, for those paying attention, a profound opportunity.
The organizations that understand this shift and adapt their strategies will have a significant advantage. Those who don’t may find that decisions are being made about them — not with them — by an algorithm they never thought to engage with.
The influence game has changed. The question is whether your strategy has.