tech
Seattle has been using AI to listen to every 911 medical call since 2023. Nobody was told.
Seattle Fire has used Corti AI on all 911 medical calls since December 2023 with no public disclosure or surveillance ordinance review.
TL;DR
- Seattle Fire Department has been using Corti AI to monitor all 911 medical calls since December 2023.
- The AI system was deployed without public disclosure or review under Seattle's surveillance ordinance.
- Corti AI prompts dispatchers to reroute callers to a nurse consultation line, increasing diversion rates.
- Critics argue the system constitutes surveillance technology and should have undergone public scrutiny and city council approval.
- A lawsuit related to a death after being routed to the nurse line, though predating the AI's live prompting, illustrates the stakes of such diversions.
- Similar AI systems are being deployed in other counties, but typically for non-emergency calls.
- The lack of transparency in municipal AI deployments in vulnerable situations is a growing concern.