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from the No-irrational-AI-for-me...-make-mine-real! dept.
Ibrahim Diallo was allegedly fired by a machine. Recent news reports relayed the escalating frustration he felt as his security pass stopped working, his computer system login was disabled, and finally he was frogmarched from the building by security personnel. His managers were unable to offer an explanation, and powerless to overrule the system.
Some might think this was a taste of things to come as artificial intelligence is given more power over our lives. Personally, I drew the opposite conclusion. Diallo was sacked because a previous manager hadn't renewed his contract on the new computer system and various automated systems then clicked into action. The problems were not caused by AI, but by its absence.
The systems displayed no knowledge-based intelligence, meaning they didn't have a model designed to encapsulate knowledge (such as human resources expertise) in the form of rules, text and logical links. Equally, the systems showed no computational intelligence – the ability to learn from datasets – such as recognising the factors that might lead to dismissal. In fact, it seems that Diallo was fired as a result of an old-fashioned and poorly designed system triggered by a human error. AI is certainly not to blame – and it may be the solution.
This man was fired by a computer
What do you guys think about hiring and firing by AI? Would you agree with the article's premise?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 04 2018, @02:19PM (1 child)
Alternately, and equally likely, this person was fired by a cowardly boss who is blaming the computer for their own decision.
After all, the manager could have said "I know you're locked out of the computer system. Take a week off, we'll get your updated contract extension worked out, and we'll get you back in." They didn't do so, which means the boss wanted this employee gone, regardless of what they actually say.
Also a possibility is that the employee was someone who companies are reluctant to fire because they're in a class that can sue for wrongful termination due to, say, racial discrimination, and blaming the computer system is a legal defense.
Either way, an old maxim comes to mind: "For every computer error, there are at least 2 human errors, including the error of blaming the computer."
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @05:22PM
You mean they moved his desk into the basement and took his red Swingline stapler?