{"resourceId":"seattletimes-corti-911-ai-disclosure-20260614","versions":[{"version":"external-cc86b8ef588ca252bbb49ba0ea5f93d97c9a56fe7e5652a25d3994bbb046c0c7","resource":{"id":"seattletimes-corti-911-ai-disclosure-20260614","title":"Seattle Times: Fire Department used Corti AI on 911 medical calls without caller notice or public metrics","organization":"The Seattle Times","sector":"Independent journalism / EMS 911 triage","geography":"United States — Seattle, Washington","publishedAt":"June 14, 2026","publicationDate":"2026-06-14","eventDate":null,"sourceName":"The Seattle Times","sourceLabel":"Watchdog investigation — 911 medical AI disclosure and metrics","sourceUrl":"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/seattle-uses-ai-to-help-triage-divert-911-medical-calls/","evidenceClass":"independent-reporting","outcomeClass":"cautionary","topics":["governance-procurement","data-security","operating-model","accessibility-workforce"],"finding":"Seattle Times reporting finds Seattle Fire used Corti AI for years on 911 medical audio—initially quality assurance, then live prompts from December 2023—to help divert some callers to a nurse line. Callers were not told AI was listening; the department lacked public outcome metrics and detailed contract accounting (about $260,000/year cited). Officials say dispatchers retain final authority.","sledRelevance":"Primary-source governance warning for emergency-services AI on live 911 medical audio: disclosure, surveillance review, and published safety KPIs must accompany any triage/diversion prompting—especially as other agencies scale non-emergency AI assistants and wildfire-detection AI.","evidence":"Opened Seattle Times watchdog article (June 14, 2026). Documents multi-year Corti use, live prompts since Dec 2023, absence of caller notice and public metrics, ~$260k annual cost, human-final-authority statements, and expert concerns about governance matching stakes.","architectureImplications":"Live-call AI listeners need explicit disclosure UX, immutable prompt/override logs, diversion outcome telemetry, and separation from vendor training uses.","governanceImplications":"AI that influences 911 medical diversion should clear surveillance/privacy review before go-live and publish effectiveness metrics; post-hoc promises of openness are insufficient.","securityPrivacyImplications":"Continuous AI listening to 911 medical calls is sensitive audio processing; require DPIA/surveillance ordinance paths, retention limits, and contractual bans on secondary training.","caveats":"Older than the 2026-10-01 last published run; included because primary Times URL was not in emergency-services archive (EMS1 republication was) and remains newly relevant as wildfire/PSAP AI adoption expands. Clinical benefit/harm still unmeasured in the article.","streamIds":["emergency-services"],"roles":{"sales":"Sales framing: Any pitch for live 911 listening or diversion AI must lead with disclosure, override logs, and public KPIs—Seattle shows the failure mode when those are missing. Do not sell “human still decides” as sufficient governance. Unsupported: claiming outcome improvement without published metrics.","engineering":"Engineering framing: Architecture must include caller notice, prompt/override audit trails, diversion-outcome warehouses, and contractual training restrictions. Prerequisites: legal/privacy review, metrics schema, HITL policy. Constraints: nurse-line/ambulance contractor interfaces complicate accountability.","delivery":"Delivery framing: Delivery work is governance retrofit or greenfield controls—PIA, public metrics dashboard, dispatcher training on when to ignore prompts, and contract transparency. Ownership: fire EMS medical director + city privacy. Risks: silent diversion harm and loss of public trust."},"roleDetails":{"sales":{"customerProblem":"Agencies want 911 triage AI without repeating Seattle’s disclosure and metrics failures.","stakeholders":["Fire/EMS chiefs","City privacy/surveillance boards","Dispatchers","Public auditors"],"discoveryQuestions":["Will callers be notified?","What diversion KPIs are public?","Who audits overrides?","Is surveillance ordinance review done?"],"valueHypothesis":"Triaging AI is viable only with notice, override telemetry, and published safety metrics.","potentialEngagement":"Pre-procurement governance gap assessment against Seattle failure modes.","unsupportedClaims":["Human final authority alone equals safe deployment","Guaranteed better patient outcomes"]},"engineering":{"fit":"Real-time 911 audio AI prompting with mandatory disclosure and audit logging.","architectureIntegration":"Audio stream → AI prompts → dispatcher UI → override log → diversion/EMS outcome store.","prerequisites":["Legal/privacy clearance","Notice mechanism","Metrics pipeline","Vendor training ban"],"constraints":["Multi-contractor nurse line","Sensitive audio retention","Public records exposure"],"security":"Encrypt audio features in transit/rest; minimize raw audio retention; ban secondary training.","proofOfValue":["Public diversion outcome report","Override rate monitoring","Completed surveillance review"]},"delivery":{"work":"Implement notice, logging, KPI publication, and dispatcher policy for AI prompts.","dependencies":["Privacy counsel","CAD/vendor","Medical director","Communications"],"ownership":"Fire EMS medical director owns clinical policy; city privacy owns disclosure compliance.","skillsAdoption":"Train dispatchers to document disagreements with AI prompts.","governanceCheckpoints":["Surveillance/PIA approval","Public metrics launch","Quarterly outcome review"],"acceptanceCriteria":["Caller notice live","Override logs complete","First public metrics posted"],"risks":["Undisclosed listening","Unmeasured harm","Contract opacity"]}},"retrievedAt":"2026-10-04T22:08:48-05:00","enrichedAt":"2026-10-04T22:08:48-05:00","enrichmentBasis":"retrieved source","accessibilityWorkforceImplications":"Undisclosed AI on medical 911 calls can especially affect limited-English and medically complex callers who cannot contest invisible triage.","procurementImplications":"Require contract clauses for disclosure support, metric exports, training bans, and public pricing before live-call AI.","operatingModelImplications":"Live 911 AI prompting is an operating-model change needing public accountability, not a silent QA add-on.","sourceVerification":{"responseId":"curl-seattletimes-corti-911-20261004T220848","openedUrl":"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/seattle-uses-ai-to-help-triage-divert-911-medical-calls/","referenceExcerpt":"But 911 medical callers aren’t told their calls are being monitored by AI.","promptVersion":"sled-research-v4.0","model":null,"basis":"agent-reported inspection"}}}]}