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Lesson 4 of 7

Keep a person in charge

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6 min

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A program refuses a student's scholarship form. The letter says only: the computer said no.

The program suggests an answer.
Step 1 of 4
  1. The program suggests an answer.
  2. A person checks it.
  3. The person makes the final choice.
  4. Later, people check how fair the program was.

The rule

For big decisions, a person checks the answer and decides. The makers and users of a program answer for what it does.

This is called human in the loop. A person stays part of every big decision. The loop is the cycle: suggest, check, choose, review.

A decision is big when a wrong answer can hurt a person. It may change their future.

A computer cannot be held responsible. The people and the organisation that make or use it are.

A program that shows its reasons is transparent. A person can then find a mistake or an unfair reason.

Programs should not unfairly judge people by gender, religion or family background. Programs should also keep personal facts private.

No one can promise a program has no bias at all. So the checking has to continue.

Watch out!

Clicking accept without reading is not checking. A real check means reading the reasons.

Decide which answers need a person.

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