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posted by n1 on Thursday December 01 2016, @11:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the computer-says-you're-guilty dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes:

People's jobs and freedom are being jeopardized by the roll-out of new software by California's courts.

[..] Odyssey, the new system being rolled out across much of California to deal with case file management.

So far, the problems have seen people wrongfully arrested, held in prison longer than required and in several cases mistakenly told they must register as sex offenders.

The software, created by Texas-based Tyler Technologies, costs about $5m and is set to gradually replace a decades-old e-filing system that looks like something a hacker would use in a Hollywood movie.

[...] Minor driving offences were incorrectly appearing as serious felonies,  meaning if an affected person applied for a job, they are likely to be flagged as having a serious criminal record.

[...] Tyler Technologies provided a statement to the BBC in which it defended its software, and shifted blame back to Alameda County's staff.

It said many factors could impact the software's usefulness, among them training of those who use the technology.

"We are confident that we have the experience to help our client navigate those inevitable headwinds, just as we have done many times before with other complex implementations," spokesman Tony Katsulos said.

Source: BBC News


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:37PM

    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:37PM (#435498) Homepage Journal

    Yes, there is buggy software, but only very complex software (say, an OS) needs to be so complex that there's no way to test it properly. And they always call it "computer error" even when it's a clerk typing in the wrong number!

    The computer's not going to "mistakenly" make a traffic ticket into a felony because it doesn't like the person who got the ticket, but humans are more than capable of doing this.

    There are no computer errors, only human errors. Bugs are in fact HUMAN errors. The programmer's creed seems to be "measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk and cut with a chain saw".

    Yes, I'll trust a computer more than a human, especially if I'm the one who programmed it.

    --
    mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:52PM (#435510)

    The computer's not going to "mistakenly" make a traffic ticket into a felony because it doesn't like the person who got the ticket, but humans are more than capable of doing this.

    Nor is a computer going to listen to you say "this isn't right" and do something about it. Computers hardcode the human error on the front-end and eliminate the human and thus the ability for humans to correct errors on the back-end.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by skater on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:55PM

    by skater (4342) on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:55PM (#435513) Journal

    I worked in a retail store in the 90s that was computerizing, and just before our store went live, the owners came in and had a meeting with all of us. One of the things they said was, "Don't blame the computer. If a price is wrong, it's because someone entered the wrong price. The computer only does what it's told." It was good advice, designed to make sure we didn't destroy confidence in the system with ourselves or our customers. The switchover went very well.