Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 23
A.I. Agents Complete 17 I-9 Forms but Stumble on Google Drive Uploads
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 23

A.I. Agents Complete 17 I-9 Forms but Stumble on Google Drive Uploads

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 23

Summary

  • 17 I-9 employment forms were filled accurately by an A.I. agent using spreadsheet data, but it then failed at the simple final step of uploading the PDFs to Google Drive.
  • Across the office-job test, the agents performed best when they could write code or handle structured data, often abandoning app-based workflows within about 30 seconds despite instructions to use them first.
  • That coding strength also exposed weaknesses: the system mishandled leave-related staffing cuts by treating temporary absences as eliminations and struggled with tacit workplace judgment, language nuance and browser-style interfaces.
  • The experiment used benchmark materials from Carnegie Mellon and OpenAI and broadly matched outside findings, including Scale AI's result that the best model delivered client-ready freelance work only about 16% of the time.
  • The results suggest A.I. can speed up parts of office work even as more than 200 tech companies have cut roughly 120,000 jobs this year citing the technology.

Insights

Are CEOs replacing workers with AI, or just using it as a convenient excuse for routine cost-cutting?
With AI automating entry-level roles, are we destroying the training ground for tomorrow's expert leaders?
As AI increasingly learns from its own content, is it doomed to a decline in creativity and intelligence?

Surviving the New I-9 Era: AI, Cloud Risks, and Record Fines in 2025-2026

Overview

Between 2025 and 2026, I-9 compliance became much stricter, shifting from a routine task to a major compliance risk for organizations. This change was driven by tougher enforcement actions, such as the $24 million fine proposed against Walmart for thousands of electronic I-9 record-keeping violations, where audit trails failed to show proper employee signatures. High-profile cases like this highlight the serious financial and reputational risks of non-compliance. The end of temporary COVID-19 I-9 policies by the Department of Homeland Security added further complexity, making careful adherence to new rules essential for all employers.

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