[Gllug] Internet connections

[Justin Perreault]

On Thu, 2006-01-12 at 12:59 +0000, Ben Fitzgerald wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 12:00:47PM +0000, t.clarke wrote:
> > Re: insurance on buildings next to rivers
> > 
> > The example you quote seems to me to be yet another instance of an unfortunate
> > negative side-effect of more and more computerisation:
> > 
> > As companies introduce more computerisation they inevitably de-skill the work-
> > force and furthermore often take the decision-making process out of the hands of
> > individuals and leave it completely with the computer-system.
> > Hence the now notorious  and oft-quoted "Computer says no"    !!!
> > 
> > I remember the days when staff working in Banks had to understand banking
> > rules and practises   - not any more it seems,  unless you manage to claw your
> > way up the heirarchy to speak to someone.
> 
> Hi Tim,
> 
> I can agree with this to some extent, but the flip side is embodied in
> this popular quote:
> 
> "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations
> which we can perform without thinking of them."  Alfred North Whitehead

A vary valid quote indeed.

> As a silly example, if I had to punch this message out onto a punch card
> and then feed it into a machine I would likely understand how characters
> are encoded better but as someone worried about this in the 1960s (or
> whenever!) I can now get on with higher level tasks like replying to mailing
> lists! :-)

In this instance not an example that applies to the situation. It is
realistic for a any company to put in place automation for procedures
which do not need a situational analysis, ie for a bank, depositing a
regular sum of money into ones account. 

However, the banks long ago took this a step further with big brother
measures, ie depositing a much larger sum of money into ones account
than is normal gets flagged for inspection. 

When taken a step further than this a bank would simply refuse to try
and process the transaction, ie depositing a much larger sum of money
into ones account than is normal gets returned with 'Sorry deposit is
outside of acceptable limits. Have a nice day.'

With the insurance company denying insurance based on information which
is lacking at best it used to be that you could discuss it with the
broker to ensure that all relevant information is considered. Now the
guy sitting behind a computer claims to analyze the information however
there is no space for factors not in the tables already.
 
> Where this will lead, who knows. Specialisation may be very granular in
> 30 years time. Whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages is a
> good question. I think that they do, on balance. Time will tell.

I agree that the advantages out weigh the disadvantages when eliminating
tasks at any level and where they are eliminated I have found it to be
good. 

Unfortunately many tasks which are automated are not eliminated as there
is someone somewhere determining what factors can be digested by a
machine to allow it to provide a response and there are others who
provide the data that supports what those responses might be.  In the
unlikely event that these two people are the same person it is still
further unlikely that they are allowed the freedom to implement the
additional features which would allow for greater accuracy of analysis
based on the drug induced misbelief that cheaper automagically equals
better because it is of help to the bottom line this month.

(rant over) 
-snip

Justin Perreault
-- 
If you are an adult, you can choose to act like a child. If you do not
accept being an adult, you are only a child. -JJJ

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