The U.S. Postal Service is exploring artificial intelligence in hiring and operations, potentially to save money, according to a white paper released this week by its Office of the Inspector General. Drawing from international postal examples, USPS is considering AI to review resumes for specific experience and key elements. The OIG said AI will not soon replace human operators but will complement the workforce and create new positions for humans with AI skills. The report cited PostNL, the Netherlands’ postal service, whose AI hiring assistant Charlie screens and schedules interviews, cutting the time to schedule the first interview from four days to half a day. USPS is also looking toward agentic, embodied, contextual and quantum AI to “power the next generation of autonomous postal robotics.” The report said AI investments must be balanced against network modernization, workforce management, and long-term financial stability, but targeting high-savings deployments could create a virtuous cycle. Earlier this year, Postmaster General David Steiner predicted USPS will run out of money by next February, though suspending payments to the Federal Employees Retirement System will stave off the crash until at least 2031. The report noted broad AI adoption is limited and generative AI could weaken posts’ customer relationships. USPS had 35 AI use cases by the end of last year, including adjusting worker assignments, autonomous delivery, route optimization, fraud detection, passport applications, customer service, and internal documentation.