Lawmakers and lobbyists have started using generative tools to draft legislation. Reporting on the practice found that the tools are currently poor at the technical mechanics of federal law and regulation, which is an awkward finding, because the technical mechanics are most of what a bill is.

A statute is not an argument. It is a set of instructions for amending other statutes. The operative text of a typical bill consists of directions to strike a phrase in a specific subsection of an existing code title and insert different words in its place, plus definitions, effective dates, severability, and appropriations language. Getting it right requires knowing what the current code says, what pending bills would change about it, how courts have construed the terms of art, and which committee has jurisdiction over the resulting text.