“I believe congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you sir.” “These are the best results acheived by any artificial system, the safety margins are an order of magnitude better than any other. I don’t wish to jump the gun here, but I’d hazard to suggest that your system will be adopted by almost every driverless system in the world. You’ll have made yourself and this company extremely profitable. We are inexhaustibly grateful for your work.” “Thank you again sir.” “Is something wrong? I expected more… I don’t know, jubiation? Celebration? You seem reserved.” “There is something that I have to bring to your attention, before you decide on any public announcement.” “Is that why you’ve called me in? What’s the issue? You haven’t… you haven’t fudged the results have you?” “What? No. No, nothing like that. The results are all correct, it’s all been confirmed by independent analysis and the results have been processed by the Road Automation Authority and officially endorsed. There is nothing false about the data.” “Then that’s great, what is the issue? You’re telling me that we have, by far, the safest artificial driving system in the world and it’s independently proven and verified. What could possibly be wrong what that? We’d be saving lives. Is it something to do with the system? Did you somehow rig the test? Is the system just designed to pass the test?” “Well, it is to do with the system. The test isn’t really a test. It’s just driving. Once an artificial system has passed the registration threshhold test it has approval for real world testing alongside human drivers in any real world setting. We’ve hundreds of cars worldwide with our system installed for the past 6 months, giving decades of data. It’s not possible to program for the test, nor to falsify the data. We aren’t in control apart from providing our system.” “Our system is working in a real world setting, and has been for 6 months. The results are real, and I know that there have been no accidents, not even any close calls. We have the perfect system. What could possibly be wrong with it?” “Well… the system we’ve built is based on learning algorithms that seek to adjust their own programming based on past experiences. We used real world data to build the initial system, and once it was approved for real world tests, the subsequent data has allowed the system to greatly improve. If you check the safety margins, you’ll see a gradual improvement that has only recently started plateauing out.” “So our system is better than the data makes out, and hasn’t yet peaked?” “Yes.” “And this is a problem?” “No. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we gave the system complete freedom to learn. To use any data from its experiences to adapt its predictive capabilities.” “No restrictions? Are you saying that it doesn’t obey the law?” “In certain circumstances, no, but that isn’t an issue. Artificial systems have always been required to be unrestricted by the road laws given exceptional situations, to avoid danger and damage. It is also impossible to safely obey strict traffic laws in the Asian market.” “Our system has been tested in Asia? And there have been no accidents and no close calls? And we’re still getting the same safety margin?” “The margin is smaller, but yes. There have been no driving incidents.” “Isn’t that completely unprecedented?” “Yes.” “Yet you still have concerns about that system.” “Yes sir.” “Stop circling around the point. Just tell me what you are trying to say.” “The system isn’t very… politically correct. It discriminates.” “How so?” “It judges based on appearance. Car model, year. It’s started generating it’s own databases including number plates and observed driving patterns.” “Is that an issue?” “It doesn’t stop there. It also profiles the driver and will react based off predictions relating to categories of age, gender and race, amongst other things.” “So we’ve built a racist and sexist machine.” “Yes.” “Is it possible to… can we… can we keep this secret?” “If we want anyone to buy the software, they would be able to have access, read only of course, to the programming. Confidentiality will be added to the purchasing agreement, but that is not a guarantee of secrecy. There are a lot of people who will learn of the system. We won’t be able to keep them all silent about this.” “No, I guess you are right.” “I’m sorry, sir.” “Can we remove the discrimatory aspects of the system software? Would that fix our problem?” “We’ve simulated that extensively, sir. The results are no better than systems already out on the market. It appears that the improved safety of the system is directly related to its ability to make snap judgements base on generalisations of other road users.” “Can we hide it in the code somehow?” “We can try, but I do not believe that it will work. It will only slightly delay the discovery, and prove that we knew about and intentionally tried to hide this feature from our customers.” “Flaw.” “Perhaps. I think that it is about perspective. It’s a choice between driver safety, and the safety of other road users, against the political ramifications of having a politically incorrect system.” “That’s not my choice. My choice is between maintaining the company where it currently stands, or taking a gamble to sell a potentially lucrative software package, extremely lucrative, that will ultimately drag this company name through the mud and destroy any possibility a future. My name as well, and likely all that we would gain we would lose in compensation payouts.” “Of course sir. What will you do?” “It’s hardly a choice. It’s unfortunate, and I wholly appreciate all the time and effort you and your group have put into this. The company comes first.”
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. . Self care - 26.01.2022 (Poem) Perceptions of reality - 2.02.2022 (Poem) Natural impunity - 9.02.2022 (Short Story) Lost in a Labyrinth - 2.03.2022 (Poem) Ministerial Standard - 23.03.2022 (Poem) Dungeons and Dating - 6.04.2022 (Short Story) Better Shared - 20.04.2022 (Poem) Touch to toilet - 27.04.2022 (Poem) Shooting Stars - 4.05.2022 (Short Story) Chop Shop - 18.05.2022 (Poem) Family Ties - 25.05.2022 (Short Story) Age of Consent - 8.06.2022 (Poem) Legacy - 24.08.2022 (Poem) Performative Enjoyment - 7.09.2022 (Poem) Bridge of Dreams - 7.12.2022 (Poem) Faultless - 22.12.2022 (Poem) Disconservative - 11.01.2023 (Poem) Single use - 1.03.2023 (Poem) Donor Cards - 6.04.2023 (Poem) Creative Art Say I - 13.04.2023 (Poem) Home-bound - 5.07.2023 (Short Story) Sand and Sea - 20.07.2023 (Short Story) Luminosity - 15.11.2023 (Short Story) About the AuthorA 33 year old medical intern who plays frisbee and likes long walks over mountains. Archives
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