Modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), occupy a pivotal place in the modernization of public administration. In accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced on December 11, 2024, particular attention is given to enhancing AI mechanisms to improve the efficiency of lawmaking and build a modern digital ecosystem.
According to the protocol of a meeting chaired by the Chairperson of the Senate, Maulen Ashimbayev, on March 12, 2024, exploring AI’s potential for optimizing parliamentary activities is a key priority.
In general, parliamentary legislative work is multifaceted, encompassing a range of areas stemming from its principal functions: lawmaking, representation, oversight, and administration. International practice demonstrates that AI technologies can effectively improve each of these areas, thereby helping parliaments fulfill their responsibilities more efficiently and strengthen their interaction with society.
In line with the functional tasks of parliamentary activities, the Parliament, central government agencies, and other institutions in Kazakhstan are developing AI-based tools to automate and optimize parliamentary processes. For instance, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with several startups and research institutes, is creating chatbots to rapidly advise citizens on legal issues. As part of the Targeted Financing Program, multiple studies are underway to develop AI tools that simplify the preparation of legal documents—such as lawsuits and court rulings—providing significant assistance to citizens, judges, lawyers, and advocates. The “Respublika” party, in collaboration with the Association for AI Development, is developing a “Deputy Assistant” solution to support deputies in their professional work. These initiatives represent only a fraction of the ongoing efforts to integrate AI into Kazakhstan’s parliamentary processes.
In many countries, the use of AI in lawmaking has transitioned from an experimental stage to a practical reality. For example, at the DGO 2023 conference held on July 11–14 in Gdansk (Poland), an international research team—comprising Jörn von Lucke (Open Government Institute, Zeppelin University, Germany), Fotios Fitsilis (Scientific Service of the Hellenic Parliament, Greece), and Jan Etzscheid (Open Government Institute, Zeppelin University, Germany)—presented the results of a comprehensive study on the potential of AI in parliamentary activities. The study yielded 210 proposals aimed at helping the scientific community and parliamentarians plan and implement AI solutions to enhance parliamentary efficiency. Many of these proposed tools share similar functions and purposes, highlighting both their versatility and interchangeability.
International experience illustrates the wide range of approaches to deploying AI in parliamentary work. For example, Greece is actively implementing digital solutions in its lawmaking process, rendering it more transparent, efficient, and inclusive. Pursuant to Law No. 4622/2019, integrated platforms have been created that span the entire public administration system, ruling out siloed approaches.
A central element of Greece’s digital transformation is the Legislation Editing Open Software (LEOS), developed by the European Commission. LEOS allows for the creation of legal documents using standardized templates that fully align with national methodologies. The system supports multilingual features, version control, and automatic template updates, minimizing errors and streamlining the legislative process.
Machine learning algorithms for automating and analyzing legal data have become crucial tools for improving legislative quality. They help identify inconsistencies and gaps in regulations, ensuring timely responses to changes.
To foster inclusivity, citizens can participate in discussions of draft laws on digital platforms by offering comments and feedback. This approach makes the lawmaking process more transparent and responsive to public needs.
Another example is the EU-funded ManyLaws project, dedicated to processing and analyzing legal texts using Big Data technologies. The consortium included the parliaments of Greece and Austria, as well as corporate and academic participants. Within this project, legislation from Greece, Austria, and the EU was annotated, cross-referenced, and converted into structured open data based on standards such as DCAT-AP, ELI, and AKN. This effort enabled the visualization of legal interconnections and comparative analyses of national and EU legislation. Although ManyLaws did not directly support the legislative process, it laid the groundwork for developing national ontologies and digital models of lawmaking.
Greece’s National Codification Portal is poised to become the central legislative hub, cataloging all current legal acts in a format standardized for machine readability. It will integrate data from other legal databases, adhering to open data standards (EUPL) and utilizing ontologies such as AKN, ELI, MetaLex, and Eurovoc. The portal’s features include authoring support, text analysis, semantic comparison of legal provisions, and collaborative project workflows. The platform is built on W3C standards (OWL, RDF), facilitating seamless compatibility with other systems.
As part of the implementation of Law 4622/2019, the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) platform (ria.gov.gr) was created to automate the development of draft legislation and regulations with significant economic or social implications. Created by GRNET, the platform consolidates various reports, ensuring completeness and quality in the legislative drafting process. Training, including online courses, was provided to ministry staff. Developed using an agile methodology, the platform was finalized in 2022 and went live in 2023. Greece’s experience shows that a comprehensive approach to digitalizing lawmaking—integrating cutting-edge technologies while complying with international standards—can significantly boost legislative efficiency.
The European Parliament launched the E-Legislate initiative, aimed at standardizing legislative documents and automatically translating them into 22 languages. In Norway, the Storsak system, trained on 8,600 texts, is employed to organize legislative proposals from the government and parliamentarians. The Hungarian Parliament uses ParLex, which unifies government and local authorities in a single digital environment, greatly easing the lawmaking process. North Macedonia is considering automated text translation, though its bilingual environment poses additional challenges. Austria has introduced the “Bumblebee” program to upgrade IT infrastructure and transform organizational culture. Denmark applies AI to generate subtitles and manage room bookings, and it has adopted a digital strategy through 2027.
Estonia has extensive experience with digital transformation, including speech recognition, subtitles, and ChatGPT, which enhance its parliamentary operations as part of a broader digital strategy. Finland is investigating ChatGPT for drafting speeches and translating, concurrently modernizing its parliamentary online services infrastructure. In France, AI development is still in its early stages, with 15 IT specialists participating in the project. Canada has begun using AI for real-time speech recognition and transcription as part of its “Digital Office” initiative. The Swiss Parliament is devising software for speech recognition and transcription, while the Netherlands prioritizes data protection and AI integration with Microsoft Azure, employing AI for voice conversion and access control. In Italy, AI is used to improve stenographic records, automatically convert speech to text, and classify legislative acts.
Examples from parliaments worldwide underscore a willingness to embrace AI, pointing to vast opportunities for enhancing efficiency, streamlining procedures, and improving access to information.
Global experience confirms that integrating AI into the legislative process opens up tremendous possibilities. This technological adoption not only automates routine tasks but also makes lawmaking more inclusive, efficient, and attuned to public needs.
Kazakhstan is well-positioned to become a leader in parliamentary digitalization, adopting solutions suited to local realities and aligned with international standards. However, achieving this goal will require more than technological modernization. It also demands active citizen engagement, specialized training for staff, and ongoing evaluations of how effectively new tools perform.
AI is transforming legislative systems around the world. Standing on the threshold of a new digital era, Kazakhstan has the potential to lead in creating a modern and effective parliament.
By Sholpan Altynbekkyzy Saimova, Ph.D., Head of the Center for Public Legislation and Public Administration of the “Institute of Parliamentarism” RSE on the Right of Economic Management, under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
