Nevada has a new helper in its quest to solve the unemployment claims backlog: Google ai. Gizmodo ai-will-help-decide-whether-unemployed-workers-get-benefits-2000496215″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:reports;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>information The initiative will task one of the company’s cloud-based ai models with analyzing transcripts of appeal hearings and suggesting whether cases should be approved. Welcome to the future, where a robot evaluates whether you get the government money you applied for.
He Nevada Independent wrote In June, the ai model, trained on the state’s unemployment law and policies, will analyze transcripts of virtual appeal hearings. It will then issue a ruling, which a state employee will review for errors and decide whether to uphold.
It replaces the current Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) process, which takes an average of three hours for a real person to complete. Carl Stanfield, IT administrator for DETR, told the Nevada Independent that Google ai (which uses the company's artificial intelligence) ai” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:Vertex cloud system;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>Vertex Cloud System) can make a decision within five minutes. “The time savings are phenomenal,” Stanfield said.
It’s easy to understand why Nevada would be eager to lean into the emerging technology. In June, the state was reported to have a backlog of more than 10,000 unprocessed appeals, about 1,500 of which were a result of the pandemic. And if the technology’s reviews are accurate — or human reviewers catch its errors — it could mean a huge time-saver.
But there could be psychological pressure for employees reviewing cases to approve the ai’s findings. “If a robot has just given you a recommendation and you just have to check a box and there’s pressure to clear a backlog, that’s a little bit concerning,” said Michele Evermore, former deputy director of unemployment modernization policy at the Labor Department. Gizmodo.
Stanfield said Gizmodo that a governance committee will meet weekly while the state is fine-tuning the model and quarterly after it goes live to monitor for hallucinations and bias. The stakes could be high for plaintiffs, as the ai-powered system could affect their ability to appeal false rulings. “In cases involving factual issues, the district court cannot substitute its own judgment for the judgment of the appellate referee,” said Elizabeth Carmona, a senior attorney at Nevada Legal Services. GizmodoIn other words, if the human reviewing the decision fails to spot the ai's errors, a court may not have legal standing to overturn it.
A Nevada politician put it a little more bluntly: “Are we crazy?” Nevada state Sen. Skip Daly (D-Reno) told the Nevada Independent This summer. “I have concerns about the whole concept of over-reliance on algorithms and computers. I hope we’re cautious about that and we think before we say, ‘We have to be faster or better than the next guy.’”
