A COMPUTER
CAN NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
THEREFORE A COMPUTER MUST NEVER
MAKE A MANAGEMENT DECISION
There are a lot of “middle management” jobs that are falling into the capabilities of AI. We have turned so many of those jobs into “standard work” driven by simple performance metrics, that mediocre talent can fill the role (cf. “
Bulls**t Jobs”), and any “excellent” will advance past that role quickly. Oops, we’re killing that organic meritocracy.
The WSJ has an article with similar predictions. But also leave it up to them to still speak in terms of ‘whitecollar' and ‘blue collar’ jobs two generations after we transitioned into full time work, multiple part-times, and gig work.
I believe an economic downturn is coming soon, and that a lot of the excuses made for poor-performing AI will be waved-away in deference to the lower cost, and that will be the new baseline for customer support … would you like to subscribe to support+ for only $2.99/mo?
I heard rumors last year that Gulfstream was going to start charging for MX folks to call Tech-Ops when we have an odd situation and just need a bit of guidance. Unless it's changed since the last time I called you can always get a real human on the phone and if your question exceeds the scope of their experience they'll find and transfer your call to someone with real experience regarding the system that's causing your issue.
Back in the olden times we were always familiar with our local Tech Rep, these were normally folks who'd spent some time on the floor at a service center and distinguished themselves as a troubleshooter, problem solver and had great customer service skills.
I do recall once a G-IV came in with an auto throttle issue. I did my due diligence and troubleshot it down to the R/H servo, I was fairly certain that the actuator was faulty but before I started tearing up the carpet and the floors in the FWD cabin to access the actuator I thought I'd call Tech-Ops and just have them verify what path I'd taken to reach my diagnosis. They agreed with me so I walked into my bosses office and told him we're going to have to tear the floor apart and explained to him how I'd come to that conclusion and that Gulfstream agreed. We didn't keep auto-throttle servos as spares so my boss got one ordered and I coordinated with the interior folks so they could at least get me access to the floorboards, it was right around that time that our charter department had called and said they sold a trip and needed the airplane back the day after tomorrow.
That's fine, it's normal ops, the part is on it's way and we've already gained access. I get the replacement servo the next day and it appears identical to the faulty unit so I remove the bad one and start to install the replacement. It's a couple of 1/8" cables and four bolts, easy money right? Nope, you have to connect the cables to the pulley and then install the bolts but once I'd installed the cables the darn servo refused to find its home. I'm not what you'd call overconfident so I immediately thought I must be somehow doing this wrong and I went looking for my mistake but everything was perfect, so just for kicks I removed it and reinstalled the original unit and it literally dropped right into its original position. This was probably sometime in the morning before lunch.
I spent a minute contemplating and staring at the two identical parts wondering why one fit and the other seemed reluctant. Somewhere in the back of my dumb head the geometry of the cables and the bolt holes led me to think that perhaps the diameter of this pulley was oversized by a bit. Because I've been a few places and done a few things I have accurate measuring tools. Initially I checked the outside diameter of the pulleys and they were almost identical and I thought I was off on a wild goose chase.
But then I checked the grooves on the pulley and found a significant difference in diameter that explained, at least to me, why this "new" part won't fit. I did the responsible thing and told my boss we had a bad part and the airplane ain't making the flight.
He believed me but came out to verify, next thing I know our Gulfstream Tech-Rep (we were already friendly) has joined me in the cabin of this G-IV parked outside and we're both sitting on the floor and he won't believe me. So I install the the original unit with no issue, remove it and then attempt to install the replacement. I gave him my 12" calipers and he did his own mental figuring after measuring both parts.
It was at about this point that the lady that ran the charter department came in full of fire and brimstone about how a part had been ordered and the airplane had to fly the next day no matter what. Nope. It was a bad part from Gulfstream, it had all of the correct paperwork and had been overhauled. What I learned is Challengers used the same autopilot servo and somehow one of those got mixed into the Gulfstream spares pool.
My point is all of that happened either by voice or face to face and I miss that. Text and email would've never solved that problem. And, no the airplane did not make the flight.
arstechnica.com
www.theparisreview.org
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