Veterans, VA Disability, and AI

AI is everywhere these days. Scroll on social media or open an app or website and there’s a decent chance you’ll see an AI-generated feature. Enter a Google search and the first thing you’ll likely see is an AI Overview, which pulls from sources across the internet to provide a quick, easy-to-read answer.

However, it’s best to use AI with caution. AI can make it easier to find information quickly or gather your thoughts into a more coherent writing sample. But it also has its pitfalls, like pulling from unreliable sources or having outright hallucinations.

We explain where VA benefits and AI intersect for many of our clients and best practices for veterans using AI to understand their VA disability.

What is AI?

AI stands for artificial intelligence. AI systems allow computers to learn, reason, and problem-solve based on data they can access. AI is often used for things we don’t even realize, like identifying patterns, predicting outcomes, or recognizing faces.

Access to AI tools and chatbots has steadily risen in recent years. Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute reported one in six people around the world and about 28% of the U.S. population were using AI tools by the end of 2025. 

Generative AI, specifically, refers to AI designed to generate original content like images, writing samples, or answers to questions based on a prompt you enter. 

When you ask a question to ChatGPT, the answer it provides is an example of generative AI. Similarly, if you ask a question on Google and receive an AI Overview at the top of your results, that’s generative AI in action. 

Our article will focus on generative AI responses from chatbots like:

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Co-Pilot
• Gemini
• Grok
• Perplexity

Does the VA use AI?

The VA has been using AI more and more frequently in recent years. In most cases, the VA is using predictive or traditional AI rather than generative AI like ChatGPT. These types of AI are often meant to quickly sift through large amounts of data and identify patterns or find specific pieces of information.

Examples of the VA’s AI use include AI tools to detect fraudulent direct deposit change requests, AI for basic administrative tasks, and AI meant to identify risk factors for overdose or suicide. 

The VA shares more about how artificial intelligence is used across the department on its website.

AI and VA disability benefits

Many veterans are using AI to understand the VA disability benefits process.

Veterans will often feed their VA decision letter into a tool like ChatGPT and ask it to explain why their claim was denied and what they should do next.

These tools may give advice, sometimes presented as a definitive answer, on:

• What weakened your claim
• What you need to win your claim
• Step-by-step directions on what to do 
• An assessment of whether the claim can be won or not

To test this, we fed a publicly available BVA decision into a chatbot. 

Here’s an example of what ChatGPT might tell you to do after scanning your VA decision:

ChatGPT has determined what’s needed to win this claim is stronger evidence of service connection on the basis of “secondary aggravation.” 

Why this advice could be questionable: 

• Based on multiple factors, a supplemental claim may not be your best appeal option. A trained lawyer familiar with the VA may determine there is a better route for you. 
• There is no way to know whether medical evidence supports the theory of service connection suggested by AI. An attorney would need to look through your case file as well as existing research to determine if this is the best method.

This is just one example, but as AI chatbots become more popular, lawyers continue to get more requests to argue a claim based on feedback from AI. These suggestions are not always possible, realistic, or best practice.

Should I trust AI suggestions on my VA benefits?

It’s understandable to want to use any tools at your disposal to get a better grasp on why the VA denied your claim. However, it’s important to know AI chatbots are not always the most reliable source of information, especially when it comes to areas like medical or legal advice. 

AI hallucinations

First, AI can hallucinate. AI hallucinations occur when tools like a chatbot create a nonsensical or inaccurate output. 

What does this mean exactly? When you send a question or prompt to an AI chatbot, you expect to get a response that makes sense and contains accurate information from trustworthy sources. When AI hallucinates, you may receive an answer that seems right and is presented as fact, but is completely inaccurate. In the legal world, examples of this have included chatbots citing court cases or journal articles that do not exist.

In addition to potential hallucinations, AI does not always provide full context and considerations in its outputs. Exceptions may be skimmed over or left out altogether. It also does not know anything about your own special circumstances that you have not chosen to tell it.

AI and the law

Second, AI is not a lawyer. Many experts agree legal work is a field AI cannot replace. While certain AI tools can help streamline or speed up routine tasks at law firms, determining how the law applies and how best to argue a case is different. 

An article from the New York Bar Association’s website perhaps says it best:

“AI’s primary strengths lie in its speed, scalability, and ability to recognize patterns within vast datasets. However, legal work is not solely technical; it encompasses interpretive, relational, and ethically complex dimensions. The application of statutes, case law, and regulations frequently occurs… with years of experience, knowledge, and understanding of the law…

“This false sense of legal expertise, propagated by AI’s ability to produce plausible sounding, but legally inaccurate or incomplete responses, extends to the public as well. Individuals might turn to AI for personal legal issues, misinterpreting its output as authoritative advice, which can lead to misguided decisions, unrepresented legal actions, or a fundamental misunderstanding of their rights and obligations.”

Trusting your lawyer to handle your case

Finally, remember you hired a lawyer for a reason. 

We understand wanting to have a say in your claim, as VA disability benefits can have a huge influence on your life and ability to support yourself and your family.

If you are a Woods & Woods client, your case manager is available to discuss your claim with you. We also hope you can trust our VA-accredited attorneys to make careful, thoughtful decisions based on years of experience studying and practicing VA disability law and a desire to win your case. 

Ultimately, AI can create a starting point for learning about VA disability. However, it is a tool that is still evolving and may give wrong or incomplete information. Fact check the information it provides when possible, and remember an accredited VA lawyer will look at your full case file through their lens of experience and understanding in a way AI cannot.

Veteran AI best practices

When, if, and how you use AI is ultimately your choice. 

However, AI may be best used when the stakes of the information are relatively low. It may not be ideal for determining how to appeal your VA disability claim, but prompts it may be more useful for include:

• What is the VA rating for my condition?
• What are the best podcasts for veterans?
• Who is eligible for VA disability?
• Tell me about the services the closest VARO to me offers
• What are some sites that provide daily veteran news?

Even still, it’s important to keep in mind the potential for AI hallucinations, missing information or context, and gaps in its knowledge about the full picture of your specific circumstances. That’s why it’s best to use AI as a starting point rather than a complete, one-stop source of information. 

Many reliable resources exist online where you can gather or supplement info, including .gov and .edu websites and content from VA-accredited law firms. 

If you have questions about VA benefits, our blog includes hundreds of articles that have been written and reviewed by our attorneys. Our YouTube channel also has videos on a wide range of relevant topics. If you are a client, your case manager will also do their best to answer any questions you may have.