3 ms·

Well, not quite -- algorithms: (1) Grease the wheels significantly (allowing these decisions kinds of humiliations to occur much more quickly, and in greater b

Well, not quite -- algorithms: (1) Grease the wheels significantly (allowing these decisions kinds of humiliations to occur much more quickly, and in greater bulk); (2) Enable "action at a distance", both physically and psychologically (it's a lot easier for anyone at any level in the bureaucratic apparatus to shrug their soldiers and say "well, the computer flagged him, I just gotta do my job" than to make a personal determination about that person's guilt or criminal association; (3) And they add a patina of (false) respectability, via the extreme sexiness of machine learning and everything data-sciencey these days.

gwern 12y ago
> (1) Grease the wheels significantly (allowing these decisions kinds of humiliations to occur much more quickly, and in greater bulk); None of the stories show that. For example, the health one could have happened just as easily in a paper bureaucracy - that's the magic of 'opt in' vs 'opt out'. Just declare invalid all health insurances which are not explicitly renewed. No computer necessary. > (2) Enable "action at a distance", What, like paperwork doesn't enable that? > (3) And they add a patina of (false) respectability The flagged problems have more to do with no staff and the bureaucracies being self-serving in refusing to review complaints and whatnot, they don't have to do with regular people going 'well, the machine said it, so it must be true!'