Cornell Study Finds Home Care Workers Unaware of Role and Potential Benefits of AI

A team of researchers at Cornell found in a qualitative study that artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in home care, but many frontline workers, such as personal care aides, home health aides and certified nursing assistants, are generally unaware of that.

The researchers’ interviews with 22 home care workers, care agency staff and worker advocates revealed that home care workers lack understanding of AI technology, its data usage and the reasons AI systems retain their information.
 
The home care workers in the study generally did not realize that AI is already being implemented in their work, particularly through algorithmic shift-matching systems used by agencies that employ them. Home care workers receive shift assignments from agencies through a matching process designed to balance their availability, qualifications and geographic location with the needs and location of patients.
 
Agency staff were generally more aware of AI’s use in home care.
 
Click here to learn more about the study.

To better support home care workers in the future, the researchers emphasize the need for equitable, participatory governance structures to regulate AI. They argue these structures should include important stakeholders at all levels, including patients and home care workers.