Founders have spent numerous time over the past few years attempting to construct practical consumer use cases for AI and machine learning. AI startup Advocate thinks that the tech could help people apply for federal government advantages more easily.

The Recent York–based startup was founded by Emilie Poteat, who got the thought after watching her stepfather attempt to get social security advantages. Despite being eligible, it was a sophisticated process for him to use and even once he did, he spent months waiting to listen to back. Years later, Poteat realized that AI may have the opportunity to enhance that process.

Poteat got here on TechCrunch’s Found podcast this week to debate why automating the applying process using AI could help many people access government advantages easier. She also talked about why government advantages is the right place to construct an AI model as a result of its plethora of documentation, policies and data that a closed-loop system could learn from.

She shared what it has been like chatting with the federal government about constructing a third-party add-on to their existing infrastructure and why the federal government seems open to working with an outdoor organization as an alternative of constructing out the tech itself.

This episode also dives into the company-building process for Poteat and Advocate because the startup hasn’t fully launched yet. Poteat also talked about fundraising for the startup and the way she had higher luck with the firms that need to back moonshots than she did with the firms that give attention to women and LGBTQ+ founders like herself.

Poteat hopes that eventually the corporate will have the opportunity to assist anyone who’s eligible for any government profit have a better time applying and plans to begin expanding into more government profit verticals shortly after launch.

“It was not that the federal government was out to get people but fairly that there was a missing piece of infrastructure, like a bridge or a road, but technological infrastructure that may sit between the American public and its federal government,” Poteat said. ” So we got down to construct it.”