Montana DLI Launches AI Chatbot to Answer Unemployment Insurance Questions

Montana put an AI chatbot named Larkie in front of out-of-work residents seeking unemployment answers this month, and within weeks it was fielding up to 100 conversations a day, including nights and weekends, while the Department of Labor & Industry has yet to publicly disclose what happens when it gives a claimant the wrong information.

Michell Hauer, the department's unemployment insurance division administrator, said the tool addresses a basic access problem. "We are wanting to provide more information to our claimants in an easy and accessible way," Hauer said. "In this digital age, the more you can give people the opportunity for people to self-serve, the greater success you have."

The volume figures make the efficiency case plain. DLI averages up to 500 phone calls per day, and Larkie's 60 to 100 daily interactions are already diverting a portion of that load. "When we have Larkie handling 60 to 100 interactions in a day, we are actually able to serve an additional population because we are able to have that available to the public," Hauer said.

DLI says most users are resolving questions in one or two messages. Available around the clock through the department's website, Larkie covers how to file a claim, what documentation is required, how to check claim status, and where to find the relevant forms. The department describes the tool as part of a broader modernization effort and says it will direct users to human staff or appeals channels when it cannot resolve a question.

Bryan Bird, manager of Job Service Helena, called the tool an improvement over the department's previous all-phone model. "It is going to be and is a very effective tool to get folks the answers they need at any time of the day," Bird said. He also described how Larkie was built to route users back to his office: "With the chatbot, one of the things we helped create in there were that some questions will lead to coming back to job service because we can help you get to your next career."

That handoff matters most in Lewis and Clark County, where DLI's Helena headquarters and Job Service Helena sit at the center of employment services for local residents, employers, and workforce nonprofits. A chatbot that accurately handles routine questions frees Bird's staff for coaching, placement, and the contested cases that carry the most financial weight.

The risk runs in the other direction. Montana's unemployment insurance system requires claimants to meet strict deadlines on weekly certifications, documentation after disputed separations, and appeals of denied claims. A wrong answer from Larkie on any of those points, whether misidentifying eligibility criteria or understating a filing deadline, could cost a Helena-area resident weeks or months of payments with no recourse if they acted on the bot's guidance in good faith.

DLI acknowledged Larkie is in its early stages and that errors will be addressed as they arise. The agency has not published accuracy benchmarks, targets for escalation to human staff, language access protocols for non-English-speaking claimants, or policies governing how long Larkie stores the personal conversation data of residents already in financial distress. Those are the terms on which Larkie's promise will ultimately be judged.