Why accountability is an increasingly elusive endeavour
In the age of algorithmic decision-making, allocating blame is a fraught process – but this does not have to be a bad thing.
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The "accountability sink” refers to rule books, procedures and in some cases whole institutions in modern life that have essentially removed individual responsibility for decision-making.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS
Stephen Bush
Imagine – or, if you fly frequently and are particularly unlucky, remember – this scenario: Your flight is overbooked, and, to free up space, passengers are being removed. Those with the fewest frequent-flier miles are ushered out first. You can complain, of course, but the person implementing the policy has not set it – nor can he change it. Even if you happen to have the mobile phone number of the airline’s chief executive, it’s not her fault: It is company policy.
This is the thought experiment that author Dan Davies uses in his entertaining new book, The Unaccountability Machine, to illustrate what he dubs “the accountability sink”: rule books, procedures and, in some cases, whole institutions in modern life that have essentially removed individual responsibility for decision-making. The flight attendant who escorts you from the plane isn’t responsible, nor is his manager. After all, you signed up for this possibility when you booked your ticket.