Bureaucracies are constituted by humans, however, and not all humans cower in the illusory shelter of objective process. As a result, bureaucracies often have s

Bureaucracies are constituted by humans, however, and not all humans cower in the illusory shelter of objective process. As a result, bureaucracies often have something that computers do not: logical escape valves. When the inevitable cases arise that break the logic of the bureaucratic machine, these escape valves can provide crucial relief from its heartless and implacable nature. Every voicemail system needs the option to press zero. Escape valves may take the form of appeals processes, or higher-level administrators who are empowered to make exceptions to the rules, or evolved cultural practices within an organization. Sometimes they might consist of nothing more than individual clerks who have the freedom to fix dumb results by breaking the rules. In some cases this is perceived as a failure—after all, making an exception to a rule in order to treat an individual fairly diminishes the qualities of predictability and control that make a bureaucratic machine so valuable to those at the top. And these pockets of discretion can also leave room for bad results such as racial discrimination. But overall they rescue bureaucracies from being completely mindless, in a way that computers cannot be (at least yet). I wonder what the best way to add an "escape valve" like this to a computer system would be. A chat box where you can talk to a human who has administrative power over the computer system? A way to write freeform text that someone will read later?