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I agree mostly but i think that saying “the algorithm is my boss” really does help the discussion along. I had a friend (“S”) who on hard times sighed up to del
by zwkrt 5y ago
I agree mostly but i think that saying “the algorithm is my boss” really does help the discussion along. I had a friend (“S”) who on hard times sighed up to deliver through uber eats. Their entire tenure included no human interaction. S worked for about 3 weeks, got some bad reviews for delivering food cold, and were “fired” all without ever talking to anyone or seeing anyones face. They would ironically (but truthfully!) claim that their phone was the worst boss they ever had.
Its true that somewhere behind the scenes is a set of people making the algorithm and a set of people implementing it, but for the end user/worker there is no human, no realistic arbitration, no negotiation, no favors, no coworkers, no smiles, no understanding, and no recourse. It reminds me of yesterday’s “Did I just lose $500k?” post. When S got fired it may as well have been mandated by god.
ADDENDUM: I don't want to toot our horn too much, but also remember that as a member of this forum you are probably an order of magnitude better at navigating complex institutions, understanding business objectives, understanding the “intent” if a piece of algorithmic technology, and advocating for yourself than the average person who picks up gig work. To many people it is literally magic, and the further your boss is toward being magical the closer you are to being a slave to them. And I don't think I am being melodramatic with my choice of words.
- lupire 5y agoThe phone wasn't their boss. Uber's bilionaire management was their boss. Phone was the scapegoat.
- zwkrt 5y agoAgreeing with the sibling comment, it would be much better if Uber’s CEO was their boss. S could call him every time a restaurant was late on their order, negotiate for sick pay, and ask him to help shield from the shit higher-ups are giving S. I actually think it is more disingenuous to say that the CEO is the boss than it is to say the phone is.
- AussieWog93 5y agoI run a (non-tech) business and have automated out some of the day-to-day work to a set of Python scripts I wrote. As weird as this probably sounds, I gave many of the scripts silly names and a couple of them pretend "personalities" (ie error messages/prompts will be phrased as if there's an imaginary character inside the machine). To call software a scapegoat or "not their boss" seems a bit disingenuous. Each algorithm or script has its own goals, its own quirks and its own strengths and weaknesses, just like a human manager. Sometimes these quirks or misaligned goals lead to good people getting fired, just like with a human manager. These algorithms also replaceable and retrainable by the top-level brass, again just like a human manager. To me, what seems wrong is not that machines are making decisions, but that there is no appeals process for the people who've had their lives ruined by such a decision.
- rambambram 5y ago> ... remember that as a member of this forum you are probably an order of magnitude better at navigating complex institutions, understanding business objectives, understanding the “intent” if a piece of algorithmic technology, and advocating for yourself than the average person who picks up gig work. To many people it is literally magic, and the further your boss is toward being magical the closer you are to being a slave to them. So true. Not everybody is going to see through the smoke and mirrors.