Computer-assisted decisions sometimes a good thing

[DAVID FARBER <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From:
> Date: May 1, 2008 9:25:48 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Computer-assisted decisions sometimes a good thing
>
> Dave
> Please make me anonymous because I'm saying something at the end I  
> should keep my pride out of. If I've written too often, consider  
> this offlist.
>
>    A friend of mine a number of years ago received a security  
> clearance that would probably have been rejected by most automated  
> systems. This was when being gay was a major issue on clearances,  
> and she was publicly gay. She also had actively picketed military  
> institutions a few years before. On top of that, she had friends who  
> were in strong and sometimes active opposition to U.S. government  
> policies, which would probably set off warning flags. I don't know  
> all the details, but I believe her life had included some things off  
> the profile.
>
>      On the other hand, she was a very solid, smart, mature and  
> dependable person, qualities harder to reduce to a system. Some  
> human being took the time to review things carefully, and let her  
> through. Some of that may have been that the policy on gays was  
> being questioned, but I'd guess careful judgment made the difference.
>
>      So I'm writing to urge that anyone writing the software on this  
> think carefully about not excluding people on automatic criteria. As  
> much as possible, think of criteria that a human would use to  
> override some of the "automatic" choices.  It's faster to write  
> software like this with fewer but more arbitrary rules. It's  
> probably both more humane and effective if you take the time to  
> define more special cases.
>
>      I got called in years ago to work on a system for a national  
> employment agency and discovered how arbitrary things could be.  
> About half the searches came in with a maximum age of 40-45 years.  
> The recruiters explained that was what the clients wanted, and  
> they'd just find a reason to reject anyone older for a position like  
> assistant menswear buyer. I should have walked on the spot, and did  
> not long after. I remember clearly one of their researchers pressing  
> me on this, saying that occasionally she'd spot someone older who  
> had a background so appropriate they proved the ideal candidate. A  
> human may catch things like that; an ordinary AI/expert system  
> wouldn't, but perhaps a more carefully done program can approach  
> that level.
>
>     Incidentally, occasional experiences like that have convinced me  
> that prejudice is not gone. Soon after, the controller of the  
> company rejected the department's choice for a job and said  
> explicitly, "We don't hire black people here. We had a problem."  On  
> that, I went to the Chairman of the company, the policy was  
> reversed, but I was out. Fortunately, I was consulting in a field I  
> knew I'd soon have other gigs, and didn't have a family. That makes  
> it easier.
>
>     I've been in many mixed race situations since then, and comments  
> that overt I've rarely heard even among people of the same group. I  
> think things have gotten better since the 70's and 80's. I'd like to  
> think no one objected when Bill Kennard, a black man, was chosen to  
> head the FCC and he later appointed the Jewish Dave Farber to a  
> senior post. But social science research and my occasional personal  
> experience that think foolish those who think the problem is behind  
> us. I recently heard something despicable said about Jews by someone  
> who didn't know I was Jewish.

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