This seems to make the false premise that you need computers to make decisions algorithmicly. If someone writes out a set of hard rules as to who can apply for

This seems to make the false premise that you need computers to make decisions algorithmicly. If someone writes out a set of hard rules as to who can apply for a welfare program, the result will be the same if a human or machine makes the determination. Long before computers existed, people complained about "rigid bureaucracy", which is effectively a complaint that government or business employees stuck to a process (an algorithm) that had some problems.