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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 04 2018, @01:22PM   Printer-friendly
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?


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:17PM (2 children)

    by legont (4179) on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:17PM (#702562)

    That's exactly how the system should work

    No, it is not. The problem with the system is - it is stupid. While the system is stupid, it should not be able to take such actions. More specifically, the people who put such a system in place should be prosecuted for violating his human rights.

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    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:35PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:35PM (#702575)

    It’s a human right to have your contract auto extended?

    His manager could have expedited the fix or told the contractor to take the day off; yet, he didn’t choose to do so. Sounds like a valid termination to me.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @07:59PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @07:59PM (#702716)

      It’s a human right to have your contract auto extended?

      If you're a government contractor, yes. Yes it is.