Kaiser Nurses Push Back Against AI Performance Monitoring
Healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente, one of America's largest health systems, are raising alarms about artificial intelligence tools transforming their work environment in harmful ways.
In 2024, hundreds of nurses assembled outside a Kaiser facility in San Francisco with signs declaring "Trust nurses, not AI." When union contract talks began last year, AI adoption emerged as a key grievance. Earlier this year, tens of thousands of Kaiser nurses joined mental health professionals in a strike, with AI concerns at the forefront.
A recent Cal Matters report sheds light on why California healthcare workers are resisting these technological changes.
Current and former Kaiser nurses disclosed that the organization has begun using AI to closely track their performance, measuring metrics like call response times and phone conversation duration with patients—what the company terms "average handle time." Nurses reported facing disciplinary action or negative performance reviews when patient calls exceeded 15 minutes.
According to nurses, they're expected to adhere to scripts and provide limited advice. Many worry that Kaiser's performance management strategy compromises patient care by pressuring nurses to shorten calls and restrict their scope. They pointed out that certain interactions—such as conversations with new parents or patients requiring translation services—naturally demand more time.
One nurse described a delicate patient conversation that needed extra attention, saying: "I had to ask myself: Am I going to get disciplined for going off script or saying more than what is necessary?"
Cal Matters also reported that Kaiser allegedly employed AI to evaluate nurses' tone and empathy levels. The tool was piloted with nurses in 2024 but was discontinued following worker protests. However, union representatives say managers have indicated the program could return.
In response, a Kaiser spokesperson stated the organization "uses AI responsibly and with human oversight, always prioritizing patient safety, privacy, and equity. AI tools are designed to support our clinicians and care teams, not to replace them. Medical decisions remain in the hands of our clinicians."
The spokesperson also refuted claims that nurses face discipline for calls exceeding 15 minutes, saying: "Kaiser Permanente does not use Average Handle Time to assess call response performance or enforce call time metrics. Any tools used in contact center settings support our quality assurance efforts and have human review and oversight. At Kaiser Permanente, our nurses are supported and empowered to take the time needed to deliver compassionate care and fully address each patient's care needs."
Chicago Unveils World's Largest Magic Venue
My last visit to this historic Michigan Avenue mansion was for a Lawry's steakhouse dinner featuring mediocre prime rib, white tablecloths, and an atmosphere closer to a funeral home than the Gilded Age.
Today, the experience is entirely different. A large wooden door slides open, leading to a room with a ringing telephone. Picking it up begins an unforgettable journey.
Transformed by architecture firm Rockwell Group and design powerhouse Pentagram, the McCormick mansion is now The Hand & The Eye—the world's largest magic venue at 35,000 square feet.
Chicago venture capitalist and magic devotee Glen Tullman invested $50 million in this vision. Guests pay $225 for a three-hour, camera-free experience (including $75 in food and beverage credits), moving through intimate rooms and grand theaters where magic happens at every turn.
"We built this to be a 100-year venture from every little aspect of what we've done," Tullman explains during my tour. "We built it to be for the performers and for the guests. We didn't build it to say, 'Let's maximize profits.' [Though] sometimes when you do that, you actually maximize profits, because people say, 'This is so special.'"
What Is The Hand & The Eye?
The venue functions as a theater, club, school, and networking hub for magic enthusiasts. At its core, it celebrates mid-century Chicago-style magic: up-close, mind-bending card tricks performed table-to-table in the city's taverns.
The mansion transports visitors outside time and place, blending design elements from the 1870s to 1930s—magic's golden age. Luxurious wallpapers, marble bars, meticulous carpentry, custom brass plaques, and abundant fringe and velvet create a baseline where no two rooms match. With few windows, the interior maintains a perpetual 10:30 p.m. ambiance that makes time seem to vanish.
The magic-themed design avoids feeling gimmicky because, ironically, most everything is authentic. This isn't an escape room or theme park attraction. Antique and custom furniture fills the space alongside museum-quality artifacts—from one of Harry Houdini's milk cans (the 36-by-26-inch steel churn he'd escape from while locked inside) to Alexander Herrmann's "Chinese rings" and decapitation cloth. Many pieces come from Tullman's personal collection.
The mansion contains too many rooms to experience in one night, so the club saves your journey and never schedules the same path twice. Secret passages and rooms exist, but weren't revealed during my visit. Even as media, I couldn't photograph the tour—phones receive camera-covering stickers upon arrival.
"Today you go to a concert, and if you're not in the front row, you mostly see it through the back of someone's phone," Tullman says. "Here, you're in the moment, and people walk out, and they're, like, 'That's just the best evening I've had.' Some of them don't even think about why it was so good. And it's because you were totally focused on enjoying it with people next to you."
## Crafting the Brand
A 12-person Pentagram team, supported by Paper Tiger, developed everything from the name and logo to signage and merchandise. Originally called "Metamorphosis" after a famous Houdini trick, the team found it too obvious and underwent extensive branding work. The result—The Hand & The Eye—is elegant, mysterious, and descriptive.
"We wanted a name that wasn't just a pun or had the word 'magic' in it," says Pentagram partner Emily Oberman. "The hand is about how all the magicians perform their magic, and then the eye is how the audience experiences it."
Oberman calls the project "a love letter to Chicago," incorporating the city's stars and brass signage. The rotating seasonal color palette includes a soft blue from the Chicago flag that locals might not even recognize. Filigree and patterns throughout Pentagram's brand design were extracted from the mansion's facade itself.
The brand feels rich and retro because it avoids being overly coordinated. "It's kind of like a mix of styles; all the filigree is a little bit different, too, and unique to the piece that it's on," notes Mira Khandpur, Pentagram associate partner and lead designer.
The branding appears across expected touchpoints plus magic tricks and card decks designed for the venue's store (staffed by a magician happy to teach tricks). Leaving without buying at least one deck of cards seems impossible.
For Chicago, the investment helps revitalize the struggling Mag Mile, which has faced vacancy challenges since COVID. Tullman claims his building purchase has attracted other business owners to the block. For the magic world, it's more: a space where tricks honed through countless solitary hours can be elevated and shared with audiences.
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