The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is advancing its technology capabilities by integrating AI‑driven “meta‑humans” that are ready to launch later this year, according to Edward Mays, deputy assistant commissioner of Infrastructure and support services and chief enterprise infrastructure officer at CBP, Meritalk reported.

The agency is deploying artificial intelligence tools to enhance agents’ ability to scan databases and operating systems for critical signals, streamlining threat detection.

The AI-powered meta-human will function as an interactive avatar that understands and responds to customers while retrieving and packaging information. Mays called it “game changing”, emphasizing its role in supporting people to accomplish missions and tasks.

“It’s all about helping the person, right, that human that has to lead and accomplish a mission and or task … So that’s how we’re using AI,” Mays said while speaking at the GovCIO Federal IT Efficiency Summit.

This follows the launch of an AI-powered chatbot called ChatCBP by CBP to support its workforce. Designed to enhance efficiency and secure access to information, ChatCBP uses a large language model to deliver fast, conversational responses to CBP personnel. 

The agency, however, declined to name the specific large language model behind chatCBP for security reasons.