Years ago I was a manager for a large auto glass manufacturer and installer. We had a an application that "examined" every claim for auto glass repair and replacement that would come in daily. The program would factor how many windshields were being replaced versus repaired (lower cost) on a daily basis across the entire United States.

This meant that if you had your auto insurance with any of the companies we served, and you broke or cracked your windshield on any given day, a computer was deciding whether you would get a replacement or repair based on what costs were at that given moment. The application did not account for your safety when say, a repair was not the best idea - it just looked at numbers and dictated its recommendations to keep costs down, and insurance profits up.

Later I learned that many insurance companies in various businesses do the same thing - including healthcare institutions.

I could not disagree more with today's editorial asserting that an application be making decisions about human beings.

We simply are not at that level with software applications where people's lives, welfare, health, even wages should be "analyzed" and dictated by computer programs. In fact, I consider the very idea to be borderline insane! Do you really want key decisions about you made by some calculation? Do you really trust software developers and designers THAT much? If so, I think you need your head examined.

We have already seen computerized trading on Wall Street botch the numbers affecting millions. We have seen NASA send a probe to Mars where the computer told the lander to bury itself 200 meters deep into Mars surface. We have seen power grids go out because software "thought" it needed to. And these are just a few of the thousands of glitches software has caused.

We are not ready to turn human decisions in any fashion over to computer software. Yes, I know this is already happening but it is insanity. Applications are written by humans and humans are flawed. Putting your health, welfare, income, and future in the hands of an application makes about as much sense as considering a Quija board a valuable diagnostic tool.

I keep people on my staff by encouraging them, rewarding them, and guiding them along - I DONT want any application doing that for me!!! :w00t: