Public records in the age of artificial intelligence

Albuquerque is receiving an all-time high number of requests for public records, likely due to artificial intelligence tools, according to a recently released Inspection of Public Records Act report.

Last year the city received more than 16,000 requests, which is a 300% increase since 2017.

“We need help and we need people to really open their eyes to what’s going on,” City Clerk Ethan Watson said on Thursday.

Watson suspects that many of the users submitting repeat requests are using AI to scrape news articles for information and then format requests. Those requested records, which are oftentimes police body camera footage, are then popping up on YouTube.

This process is called content farming and has become a popular money-making scheme that requires minimal effort.

Many of these routine requesters are from out of state or even out of the country, with hundreds of requests originating in Pakistan, according to the report.

These out-of-state commercial requests require a disproportionate amount of staff’s time, Watson said, but — as the IPRA law stands — staff has no option to prioritize in-state requests.

As written, the process is akin to waiting in line, Watson said, and records are delivered on a first-come, first-served basis.

“I can’t process a request from a YouTuber over the Journal or vice versa,” Watson said.

Currently, out-of-state requests make up 36.6% of requests and international requests represent 10.5%. Those requests take up the majority of staff’s time at 59%, according to the report.

Staff spend 41% of their time processing requests originating in New Mexico.

Many of the out-of-state and international users submit hundreds of requests with near-identical phrasing to one another, despite there being no other apparent connection between users. These requests are often sent at particular times, as if on a schedule.

Watson said he is unclear what service people are using but suspects that it is most likely AI-based.

For the first time, these technology-aided users are appearing alongside law firms, journalists and data brokers in the most frequent requesters list.

This change signals an “episodic, transactional use of IPRA by non-local actors rather than community-based engagement,” according to the report.

As a result, the increase is worsening the city’s record request backlog, which stands at 1,807 requests as of Thursday. Any request that has been open longer than 30 days is considered backlogged.

Despite a 59% increase in requests this quarter alone, the report details that more than 48% of them are being processed in 20 days or less.

The onslaught of requests isn’t the only issue, Watson said, people are increasingly seeking more time-intensive records such as Albuquerque Police Department bodycam footage.

Approximately 71% of requesters asked for APD records in the year’s first quarter, which includes police reports, bodycam footage and internal affairs documents.

Processing bodycam footage is especially time-intensive and mentally taxing, Watson said.

“People underestimate the extent to which this is an extremely challenging job because you spend six to eight hours a day watching really, sometimes, awful video over and over and again,” Watson said. “If there's five officers on-scene, not only are you redacting one (video), you're redacting the same scene five times.”

A delicate balance

Though the City Clerk’s Office is struggling, Watson did not point to specific changes that could lighten to load.

Instead he deferred to the newly created IPRA task force to evaluate if and how to reform the law.

That task force includes numerous agencies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the New Mexico Press Association and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

“In Carlsbad they’ve seen a 200% workload increase over the past three years,”said NMFOG Executive Director Christine Barber. “That’s unmanageable and most places have seen a minimum of 30% increase, if not closer to 50%.”

Where the task force comes in, Barber said, is finding a solution to unburden clerks while not infringing on the public’s right to information.

Walking that line requires a delicate balance.

“The things that work are also the things that make it not work,” Watson said about the law.

Though the board is yet to formally meet, NMFOG has suggestions for change. Among the top priorities for NMFOG is to establish a protocol for weaponized requests.

Weaponized requests are a deluge of requests maliciously submitted with the intent of paralyzing a clerk’s office during a critical moment, like an election.

This has already happened in cities and counties on the East Coast during the past presidential election, Barber said, and the task force needs to create a protocol for local clerks should it happen in New Mexico during the midterms.

Additionally, Barber suggested that the task force form a board that clerks can bring “vexatious” requesters to for guidance and mediation.

NMFOG does not support efforts to limit requests to New Mexican residents, which Barber said would have unintended consequences.

For example, insurance companies often request public records documenting traffic accidents. Though those insurance companies represent New Mexicans, they may be based in another state or another country.

Limiting requests geographically could have the unintended consequence of delaying claims for New Mexicans, Barber said.

Additionally, such limitations could affect New Mexicans serving in the military abroad.

“These records are being held in trust for New Mexicans and so they have the right to access them no matter where they live”

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.