Resources
Inescapable AI
The Ways AI Decides How Low-Income People Work, Live, Learn, and Survive
The use of artificial intelligence, or AI, by governments, landlords, employers, and other powerful private interests restricts the opportunities of low-income people in every basic aspect of life: at home, at work, in school, at government offices, and within families. AI technologies derive from a lineage of automation and algorithms that have been in use for decades with established patterns of harm to low-income communities. As such, now is a critical moment to take stock and correct course before AI of any level of technical sophistication becomes entrenched as a legitimate way to make key decisions about the people society marginalizes.
Employing a broad definition of AI, this report represents the first known effort to comprehensively explain and quantify the reach of AI-based decision-making among low-income people in the United States. It establishes that essentially all 92 million low-income people in the U.S. states—everyone whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line—have some basic aspect of their lives decided by AI.
Tips for Identifying AI Use
AI could be involved in all sorts of decisions made about you.
Most of the time, government officials, landlords, employers, educators, and others who use AI to make decisions don’t announce it. This guide is meant to help you figure out if AI is being used and what you can do about it.
Decision Guide for Considering AI Use
Is AI right for your organization?
Non-profit organizations and government agencies face ongoing pressure from boards, elected officials, vendors, funders, and others to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations. But, the technology often isn’t the right fit, and adopting it can threaten your resources and reputation. This guide will help you think through AI before committing your organization to it.
Do Not Use AI for Personal Legal Advice
Most people can’t afford to hire lawyers for legal problems. To fill this gap, people turn to AI to give them legal advice, draft documents, and guide them through court processes. But, AI often gets it wrong. So, we’ve written this short guide to explain why you shouldn’t use AI for personal legal advice.
Inescapable AI and SNAP
States use some form of automation to approve or deny SNAP applications and to calculate the amount of SNAP benefits a person should receive. States also use AI systems to detect possible fraud and to determine whether people were paid incorrectly based on income and asset limits. Some states use chatbots to answer questions about applying for SNAP, case status, or benefit amounts. While chatbots do not make decisions, they shape how people understand and use the SNAP program.
Inescapable AI and Medicaid
AI systems decide who qualifies for Medicaid, how much in-home care elderly and disabled people receive, and whether Medicaid covers a particular treatment or service. States and their vendors make different design choices about which assessment questions get fed into the algorithm and how they are scored. For this reason, an assessment that would cause one state’s AI tool to decide someone’s care needs are at a level that qualifies them for home and community-based services would result in a denial if the same assessment were fed into another state’s algorithm. Though the specifics of the assessments and algorithms vary, these AI systems inevitably harm recipients. They often result in denials, termination, or reduction of hours of care.
Inescapable AI and Unemployment Insurance
States use AI systems to determine eligibility, verify identity, and detect alleged fraud. States use AI chatbots to answer questions about UI. Nevada even plans to use Google AI to write decisions in unemployment appeals.
These systems generally take information from applicants or recipients, process it, compare it against other sources of data, and send out requests for information and notices. The system may either make a decision outright or prepare a decision for an agency employee to make. When these systems do not work properly, people who need and qualify for UI go without.
