When we need medical care, we expect decisions about our treatment to be made by our doctors, not a tech company's algorithm. What happens when the government outsources treatment approval to private AI companies?
When we need medical care, we expect decisions about our treatment to be made by our doctors, not a tech company's algorithm. But in January, the federal government launched a program that uses AI to approve requests for certain services under Medicare.
EFF sued for records on WISeR, seeking badly needed transparency about this experimental AI program. What we found were improper denials, operational chaos, and lengthy delays that have left patients waiting in pain.
On this episode, we're talking to EFF's Lena Cohen about what happens when the government outsources treatment approval to private AI companies—without sufficient transparency, testing, or legal limits.
EFFector is a podcast by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading nonprofit defending online civil liberties. Support our work today at https://eff.org/podfan.
0:00 Intro
4:19 The Problems With Medicare's AI Experiment With Lena Cohen
16:33 How to Have a Conversation About Online Privacy
24:34 EFF Events and Opportunities