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1/ I suspect we are days away from hearing Elon is "using AI" to “streamline” benefits programs. You should know why fully automating decisions about who gets critical assistance is a terrible idea that will have disastrous consequences. A 🧵 based on work I’ve done with the great @awhf.bsky.social

3/ In 2016, during an attempt to automate eligibility processes, Indiana denied *a million* public assistance apps in 3 years—a 54% rise. Those who lost benefits: a 6 y/o with cerebral palsy and a woman who missed an appointment with her case worker b/c she was in the hospital with terminal cancer.

4/ That same year, an Arkansas assessment algorithm cut thousands of Medicaid-funded home health care hours from people with disabilities.

5/ And in Michigan, a new automated system for detecting fraud in unemployment insurance claims identified fivefold more fraud compared to the older system—causing some 40,000 people to be wrongly accused of unemployment insurance fraud.