Elizabeth Richardson sat in her Chicago apartment on a cold January evening in 2023, staring at the rejection message on her phone. “We are currently not accepting housing choice vouchers.” The words glowed blue against the screen’s darkness, automated and absolute. She had found what seemed like the perfect place—a two-bedroom in a safe neighborhood with good schools for her kids, listed by Harbor Group Management. The rent was within her budget. The location was ideal. Everything was right except for one thing: she held a Section 8 housing voucher, and an AI chatbot had just rejected her application in seconds.