We the undersigned health care providers, patients, and community members express our grave concerns about HCRS's contract with the Israeli AI company Eleos Health. More than 90 percent of HCRS revenues come from public funds. As an agency funded almost entirely with public money tasked with offering vital services to Windham and Windsor counties, HCRS must take seriously the concerns of this community, or it risks undermining the trust that exists among the agency, its clinicians and current or prospective clients. We are highly alarmed at the implementation of Eleos Health's software due to:

• HCRS's complete failure to seek input from clients or clinicians about their concerns prior to contracting with Eleos and mandating use of the software. The ethical implications of AI are currently unknown, particularly around how it impacts clients' civil rights to privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent. Use of AI for recording and generating notes could significantly compromise and damage the therapeutic relationship between client and clinician and put clients' protected health information at a higher risk of cyber attacks. Policies that would guide the development and deployment of AI are currently under review by the Vermont legislature, highlighting how rash and premature this deal between HCRS and Eleos is.


• The wholly inadequate approach to communicating with clients about what the Eleos device is, what it does, who designed it, how client data is protected, what the risks are, and clients' ability to opt out of its use without retribution. Clients cannot make informed consent without understanding what they are consenting to. Lack of informed consent reproduces the conditions in which many of us have previously been traumatized: a lack of power and autonomy over our own bodies, our own minds, and our own privacy.


• The robust relationship between Eleos Health and the Israeli military, which has been massacring the people of Palestine and Lebanon in blatant violation of international laws and conventions.


• The harmful biases and climate impact inherent to Artificial Intelligence technology.

In light of these concerns, we urge HCRS to terminate the contract with Eleos Health immediately. While we understand that undertaking such action is likely to incur significant cost to the agency, any financial loss pales in comparison to the cost of alienating clients, clinicians and the community to the point of mistrust. As providers and recipients of HCRS care, we sincerely hope to see HCRS remain a viable resource for Vermonters, and we categorically refuse to let this agency make us complicit in perpetuating apartheid and genocide. We welcome dialogue about alternative strategies to ease clinician workloads and better serve clients that account comprehensively for HCRS's responsibilities to this community.