Nurses applaud passage of critical A.I. bills out of committee

Two bills sponsored by CNA will ensure patients and health care workers are protected against untested, unproven A.I. and ensure developers cannot escape accountability

Union nurses with California Nurses Association (CNA) applauded the progress of two CNA-sponsored bills out of committee Tuesday to establish guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in health care. These bills would protect patient safety and privacy, maintain the integrity of nursing practice, and ensure that technology companies and health care corporations cannot escape accountability amidst the onslaught of untested and unproven A.I. tools that their health care employers are rushing to deploy.

This legislation will set the standard for and serve as a model for other industries and regulatory bodies for worker protections against A.I. tools and technology in health care.

"Together, these bills establish some common-sense safeguards for patients and workers alike against all this very troubling A.I.," said Sandy Reding, RN and president of California Nurses Association. "Our workplaces are constantly rolling out new A.I., most of the time without our knowledge. Nurses and other health care workers are not against technology that supplements our practice, but we know our employers' goals are not about helping us at all. Their number one goal is always profit, and they want to use A.I. to replace as many of us as possible to cut labor costs at the expense of patient safety."

A.B. 1979, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, ensures that health care entities cannot use A.I. to replace the clinical judgment of a licensed health care professional and also requires companies offering A.I. health applications that access medical records to comply with California's medical confidentiality laws.

A.B. 2575, authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, requires health care entities to disclose when and how A.I. is used in patient care, affirms the clinical judgment of health care workers and their right to override the A.I. without fear of retaliation, and to ensure that A.I. developers and deployers cannot easily evade accountability for harm caused by their systems - including not being able to scapegoat a human health care worker who engaged with the A.I. as a defense against liability.

"In health care, artificial intelligence should only support clinical judgment - not replace it," said Asm. Ortega. "That's why I am proud to author A.B. 2575, so that no health care worker ever has to choose between protecting their patients and facing retaliation for questioning A.I."

"No machine can replace the judgment, compassion, or human touch of a nurse," said Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, which cosponsored A.B. 2575. "Artificial intelligence tools are not licensed, not subject to health care privacy laws, and not required to take a Hippocratic Oath to 'do no harm.' A.B. 2575 ensures A.I. tools are controlled by humans and do not replace our jobs."

The two bills will be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee next month.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.