Nobody checks the stock any more
A warehouse installs a system that counts stock, orders more and plans the shifts. It works well. Then the power fails for a day. Nobody knows how to count the shelves by hand.
Technology and data can make life easier. They can also change people in ways that are hard to see.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Autonomous operation | A system that does a job on its own, with little or no person involved. |
| Algorithm | A set of steps a computer follows to make a decision or a result. |
| Profiling | Using data to sort people into groups and predict what they will do. |
| Automation | Using a computer to do a task with no person doing each step. |
| Moral issue | A question about what is right or wrong for people. |
| Dehumanise | To treat people like numbers, without care for their feelings. |
| Isolation | Being alone or cut off from other people. |
| Social skills | The ability to get on well with other people face to face. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can explain the moral and ethical issues of autonomous systems and of technology changing how people behave.
Starter: last lesson
Have a go
Starter: last lesson
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Autonomous operation
An autonomous system acts on its own. Data and automation make it possible. Three issues come up.
First, people lose skills they no longer use. Second, an algorithm that decides about people, for example by profiling them, can feel cold, and nobody may explain it. Third, jobs change, and some disappear.
Three issues with autonomous operation
| Issue | What happens | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced skill level | Workers stop practising a manual skill | Staff cannot count stock by hand when the system fails |
| Dehumanised decision making | Algorithms and profiling decide with no human care | A loan refused by a program, with no person to ask |
| Reduced employment | Some jobs vanish and skills shift to digital work | Bank tellers needed less, data analysts needed more |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: autonomous systems
Have a go
Check: autonomous systems
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.