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We hold people with power to account. Why not algorithms?
- IvyMike 8y ago> We hold people with power to account. Do we really? I feel like the age of "the buck stops here" ended about 30 years ago.
- rrauenza 8y agoThat's written by Hannah Fry -- often seen on Numberphile on YouTube.
- tabtab 8y agoEngineers have to sign off that things like bridges use sound engineering principles. We could require the same of software engineers, but it would jack up the price of software, being software engineers would require much more vetting before they sign because their license would be on the line. How much more do you want to pay for software?
- UpshotKnothole 8y agoIt depends. Is that software running some shitty web app, or my car?
- tabtab 8y agoThe cars are probably running on shitty web apps :-)
- UpshotKnothole 8y agoTouché. Either way, I’d be happy to pay more for software in applications that are relatively important, and less concerned about software that doesn’t have some bearing on whether I live or die. In the end though, won’t there have to be something like what bridge builders have? If we imagine a future of self driving cars, however distant, it seems almost inevitable.
- tabtab 8y agoI've asked people to draft up sample legislation for such, and it becomes a nightmare to cover everything. Software usually has more "operational variations" (conditionals) than hardware or physical objects such that extrapolating physical engineering to software doesn't appear to work well.