Is the Coast Guard using AI on your license exam?

It's the question I'm hearing more and more from mariners heading to the REC. Here's what the public record actually shows, what's really changing, and where AI already sits in your exam prep whether you know it or not.

The exam is still a human-built, closely guarded thing

Since 2016, the Coast Guard no longer publishes its exam questions. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 (Section 315) ended public disclosure of the question bank. In its place, the National Maritime Center publishes an outline of exam topics and a set of sample exams.

Congress has recently doubled down on human review. Under the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, the law now requires the Commandant to commission a working group every two years to review the questions, content and relevancy of credentialing exams. Questions can't be used until that group approves them. Nothing in that law, or in anything the NMC has published, says AI plays a role in writing or scoring the exam.

If anyone tells you "the Coast Guard exam is AI-generated now," ask them for the source. I couldn't find one.

What is changing: Navita

The real technology story this month is the application process. On September 14, 2026, the Coast Guard launched Navita, a new online system for submitting credential and medical certificate applications. It walks you through the requirements, lets you upload documents, and is meant to cut down on the incomplete applications that cause so many delays. The Coast Guard plans to phase out paper submissions within about a year.

Two things the Coast Guard has said plainly: the requirements haven't changed, only the way you submit. And Navita is meant to support NMC staff, not replace them. It's also part of a broader Coast Guard digital transformation effort that includes a Chief Data and AI Officer, so I'd expect more automation over time. Right now, though, there's no sign of it reaching the exam room.

Where AI already is: your study tools

Many exam-prep apps now advertise AI tutors and AI-written explanations. I use AI tools professionally and I think they can be genuinely good study partners. They can quiz you, explain a concept three different ways, and never lose patience.

But I've also seen what goes wrong, and so have mariners. At least one app-store reviewer of a popular prep app complained that the answer explanations were often wrong and suspected they were AI-generated. That matches my experience. AI is confident, fluent and sometimes flat-out wrong, especially on:

• Regulatory numbers. Many AI tools still quote 1,080 days of sea service for AB Unlimited. The current figure is 540 under the interim rule.
• Recent policy changes. Things like the 2025 extension of recency from 3 years to 7 years often aren't reflected yet.
• Which regulation applies. AI will happily cite a CFR section that sounds right but covers the wrong vessel type.

My advice

Use AI the way you'd use a sharp shipmate who's never actually held the license you're sitting for. Let it quiz you and explain things. But when it gives you a number, a regulation or a "the answer is C because...", check it against the CFR or a trusted text before you believe it. The exam won't give partial credit for an answer a chatbot was sure about.

And if the Coast Guard ever does bring AI into how exams are built or scored, mariners deserve to be told plainly, with human review and a clear way to challenge a question. That's the standard I'll be watching for, and I'll report it here if it changes.