Soon, You'll Be Taking Orders From Your PC

from the Life-Emulating-Dilbert dept

Tue, Jul 18th 2006 8:13am — Joseph Weisenthal

It seems that as long as computers have been able to perform human tasks, there have been debates about what jobs will never be done by computers, because they rely on human judgment and intuition. But as computers advance, they have been able to take on an increasing number of roles. Now a researcher claims that much of middle management could be done by a computer, as algorithms perform better at budgeting, purchasing and personnel decisions. It's the consistency and lack of emotions displayed by the machines that cause them to be superior. Embedding knowledge into a computer is also advantageous, in that the knowledge can't just walk away when a top manager takes an offer from an opposing firm. Of course, there are those who dispute all this with their own research that shows the opposite, that human intelligence and intuition is extremely important in the business setting. In reality, it shouldn't be an either/or debate. Automation frees up humans to do things that computers can't begin to tackle. When computers start to do those things, it will create a new set of challenges and opportunities for humans, in an ongoing, beneficial cycle.

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38 Comments

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WirelessGuy, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:01am

Come on AC
At least say something on the 1st post, just not empty...man. =)
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Sanguine Dream, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:09am

Reminds me
I was watching an episode of Star Trek last night where the crew met this society where they had become so dependent on computers that they didn't even realize the technology they were living on was also killing them.

That'll be us in a few centuries.

Um...first relavent post?
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um yeah, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:10am

I already do
Seems I already work for robots....devoid of human emotion
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:29am

OVERLOARDS
I for one welcome our new robot overloards....

Ack! Sorry slipped into slashdot mode for a min there.

Cheers
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cypherz, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:54am

more slashdot-isms
All your jobs are belong to us!
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MissingFrame, 18 Jul 2006 @ 9:55am

Already there ...
In the morning, someone has a computer wake them up. On the drive to work, a computer shows them which direction to go. Computers control the stoplights they are sitting at, and the music selection they listen to. Their computer at work shows them a task list, the schedule it needs to be done, what time they can take lunch, and when they can return home.

Chances are, if middle management was a computer, I'd probably trust it's decision more.
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SPR, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:07am

At least a "Computer Boss" wouldn't play stupid mind games just to prove (mostly to themsleves) that they are superior.
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TacoJim, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:08am

Humans
mmmmm robot overloards. As long as i can still have sex with my robot I'm ok. Take of the world!
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Evil Mike, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:24am

Re:
OH, give it time.
Give it time.
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Papa Smurph, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:28am

Re: Reminds me
It actually reminded me of the episode when Data was in command of the U.S.S. Sutherland during the attempted Romulan envasion and screwed up as a commander! Yeah, computers would make GREAT middle management. They can screw things up worse than I can!
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:30am

Computers
I wonder how long before our country is run by a computer.

Never you say?

One day computers will be able to predict outcomes of various policies and judge whether or not the benefits outweign the costs.

Computers will make better leaders. Military, socially, and politically.

Countries that take a moral high-ground and don't have a computer rule them will be left in the dust.

I just hope the programmers leave a back door so we can turn it off in case of a malfunction.
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Javelin, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:32am

Isn't unemployment high enough
Make me a computer that can work a fast-food window, then we can talk. Creating white-collar robots is the stupiest thing I have ever heard. What self-respecting human is going to take orders from a stinkin' machine? Besides, where is the accountability? Humans barely have it. How is a computer [robot] going to be answerable for a mistake? Do we just take it out of the programmer's hide?
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:33am

Klattu barata nickto!
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You never know, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:36am

Get ready boys, the human race is getting ready to go back on the food chain. Instead of us feeding off the technology, the technology will be feeding off us, and we'll have nothing to say about it
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um yeah, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:39am

Re: Humans
not a bad idea, then at least you can turn her off and stick her back in the closet when finished....no more nagging :)

Hope it comes with a remote!
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Kyros, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:39am

I think if computers we used co-op with humans in management decisions, it would prove advantagous.
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Javelin, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:42am

Re: Klattu
Speaking of the Army of Darkness, perhaps a few dozen badly animated skeletons would make good managers?

They are heartless, whatever you tell them goes in one ear and out the other, and you dont have to pay them C.O.L.A. every year because they aren't living.

Now that I say that I'm thinking it must be some Republican conspiracy to rape the last vestiges of the middle-class for a sweeter plumper bottom-line.

You Bastards!
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Just Me, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:44am

Time is on my side
In the past, managers introduced computer systems to reduce costs...improve performance and obviously get red off some unwanted staff.

About time the table turned around.
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Hmmm., 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:45am

So many pessemists
Or, on the flip side to what everyone is freaking out about, imagine being able to relax and go on vacation without having to worry about whether or not the person you left in charge in is doing a good job. Imagine not bringing your work with you every where you go. Imagine being able to enjoy the subtleties of life that right now because you do *everything* you're missing out on living. True, it's somewhat scary to progress as a society, but then again people said similar things when the cotten gin was invented, or the automated loom, or even calculators. I say let Excel run the office!
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the future, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:47am

Re:
you never know......hmmmm....ala Matrix?

other guys comment....Terminator! lol
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jason sterly, 18 Jul 2006 @ 10:49am

i agree with it being a beneficial cycle... scary, like all change, but worth it.
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MEoip, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:00am

Work for
I work for humans with robot emotions so this could be a step up.
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What were u watchin'?, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:09am

Re: Re: Reminds me
Data did very well as the commander. He even decided to disobey orders because he was able to stop the Romulan invasion. Thats much better than all the human middle-management bottom kissers I've ever met!
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satan, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:21am

Re: tard
retard
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:27am

Re: Re: tard
dumb-ass
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Papa Smurph's Ass Beater, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:30am

Re: Re: Reminds me
Awesome! Yeah, computers should be compared to fictional android characters in TV shows to help us understand and determine whether or not their capable!

Awesome!
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Norm, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:46am

Interesting
When was the last time you played a game where you couldn't destroy the AI by your second or third attempt?

Computers are great for keeping statistics and trend data but are completely incapable of involving intangible data in their AI. A good manager is effective BECAUSE of their interpersonal and networking skills not in spite of them. When was the last time you felt like you owed a computer a favor?? ;o)
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Man in Black, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:55am

Re: So many pessemists
The reality, like so many other new tools this one isn’t going to take over anything. It is more likely to be that there are simply fewer middle managers with greater headcount beneath them and the 'middle manager software' will be a tool at their side to carry out their intent without them having to do all of the minutiae of the job. There will still be managers for the workers to talk to, (when they aren’t in meetings), those managers would still tweak the budget numbers that the program gave to favor their pet projects and hide the overruns, and managers would still make the strategic decisions. The program may even be able to hand out assignments and handle routine activities so that their managers can go on vacation without Jabras in their ears 24/7 while soaking up the sun on Maui. It will be another tool to reduce headcount; managers this time, and have the remaining managers get more done with less.

The objective of this really will be to save money and raise profits… profits which will of course go to shareholders and not be passed to employees or as savings to customers.
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Insaniac, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:57am

Learn from the past...
If one were to take a look at the way technology has progressed, it should be easy to recognize a trend. When a person's job is replaced by a machine, we don't usually have a Jetson's style nanny scootering around doing the jobs that a human once did.

Instead, the technology is used by humans to improve efficiency or capability. For instance, when the vacuum cleaner was invented, it didn't just vacuum the house on its own. The janitor was still required to operate it. And if similar advancements were made so that the vacuum was autonomous, the janitor's role would be modified so that he would perhaps run multiple cleaning machines at once.

Another example is the agricultural industry. With the introduction of technology, the number of workers required to harvest an acre of crop significantly dropped. But, the machines still require operators to function.

All of this is simply to say that humans will never be obsolete. And, more specifically, elimination of middle management doesn't mean that everyone will be taking orders from robots. It just means that the responsibility of the middle management will be passed up or down the line....most likely in the form of software that performs certain tasks or functions depending on the nature of the business in question.

And as far as the viability of computers running the country? Can't happen and won't happen. Even if we assume that computers will have the advanced capability to "predict outcomes of various policies and judge whether or not the benefits outweigh the costs," they will still need someone to tell them what is bad and good. They will need someone to tell them what to calculate and predict.

Ultimately, computers can only do what they are designed to do: compute. This means that a human will always be the one collecting the information at the end of the day to decide what to do with it, or at the very least, we will be directing what the computer perceives to be the desired outcome of a certain problem that it is trying to solve.

Bottom line: Humans > Machines
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Mockingbird, 18 Jul 2006 @ 11:59am

the middle class
middle management is kindof like the middle class.
if it is replaced by computers, the lower class will still have to program, uipdate those computers etc.
this will create an upper class (executives) and lower class (workers - programmers, IT guys, secretaries, etc etc)
but.. executives usually come FROM middle management.
they learn skills and work their way up.
with computers in this middle role, how can a worker ever achieve the insight needed to be a long term thinking executive?
seems like a system that would collapse. there needs to be 2 things.
1> a way of breeding executives.
2> incentive for a worker to work harder and "work his way up" in a company...
no answers, just observations.
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Lazy Dude, 18 Jul 2006 @ 12:05pm

Just Management?
Why have computers replace some jobs? Once machines are running electrical generators, hydrogen production, food production, and production of everything else on this planet, including each other, I can just sit back, relax, and not pay a dime for anything.

Of course that will unfortunately never happen, because most humans want to feel better than other humans and they tipically do that through wealth and personal possesions.
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anonymous coward, 18 Jul 2006 @ 12:20pm

how do I blow my new computer boss to insure my full bonus?
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Bandito, 18 Jul 2006 @ 1:34pm

Marshall Brain
I read this short story by Marshall Brain a few years ago. The entire premise was that the "robot overlords" began as a software program to replace middle management at a fast food joint. Very well written.
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Da3da1, 18 Jul 2006 @ 1:48pm

Re: So many pessemists
The problem with that is when your replaced by a computer you cant enjoy the smaller things in life cuz youll be workin 3 jobs just to make money
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DV Henkel-Wallace, 18 Jul 2006 @ 3:39pm

Jokes aside, how handy!
Would this make it easier to build a startup? Already you can scale much faster than in the "old days" via VOIP, LAMP, cheapo PCs, and other techno-buzzwords galore; contact your customers over the web etc. Now you could scale but hire fewer people? Excellent!
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Adam, 18 Jul 2006 @ 6:33pm

Re: Interesting
Well, there's this badass chess game that just stomps the living hell out of me.
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LiLWiP, 19 Jul 2006 @ 7:16am

Re: the middle class
"seems like a system that would collapse. there needs to be 2 things.
1> a way of breeding executives.
2> incentive for a worker to work harder and "work his way up" in a company... "

Nope. Those things were solved in Gattaca. We bioengineer our management. If you are born "au naturale" then you're a worker bee. Only way to get a managment position or high paying position is to have been cloned. The future is here!
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mroonie, 26 Jul 2006 @ 1:50pm

Re: Learn from the past...
Well said....even at high levels of problem solving and reasoning, it seems at best that computers and robots will always still have to be run and controlled by their creators = humans.

You will also notice that in most technological trends, a lot of gadgets are designed to make our lives more convenient, when in reality, it's just added more stress because now everybody is expected to perform faster. For example, email, fax machines, and phones. After faster ways to communicate were developed, there was no excuse for not being able to give immediate responses. A machine that would supposedly allow us to be more lazy, actually made MORE work for us to do because we were expected to be able to do it faster.....

I feel that robots/computers will just add more hustle-bustle, and continue to suck us dry of all interpersonal communication and emotion that makes life meaningful.
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