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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Mary Cluney who wrote (126893)12/10/2009 7:32:09 PM
From: cosmicforce  Read Replies (1) of 540924
 
More than one cautionary tale has been written about a society, not uncommonly humans, that give the control over to the machine or an algorithm. I've been a tech head my whole life and I understand the limitations of non-human controls. For simple systems feedback is essential and I love my thermostat or cruise control.

For complex systems, controls can become cruelly counter intuitive and human unfriendly. Consider a typical office visit to the DMV. I'm pleased that they sent me a renewal because it is easy for me, but it doesn't make the world safer (I could have had a stroke or be going blind - fortunately I didn't but they don't know that - I only said it on line). In this system, the DMV only abdicated their responsibility for assuring the public good and bought us off with convenience. The reason this is appealing is because the office process is so dreadfully inefficient. I guess I'm happy, but I could see situations and people for whom this is a really bad idea.

As systems engineers we have to design people into the system. If we don't then it is likely that the systems we produce won't work as designed under novel conditions. Complex analysis, Human Factors and Design for Use are all required to address novel behavior in a human friendly way. This is why planes aren't flown by robots. The algorithm of landing a plane is complex and while could be done remotely, a large part of it is kinesthetic learning.
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