
Jobs Inside the API - luu
https://putanumonit.com/2018/08/09/jobs-inside-the-api/
======
pjc50
The lady with the iPad is in a rather tragic position as an output device for
the system.

The "BAMF" booking agent however has a very important role in the API which
isn't spelled out here: _authentication_. He's basically the sudo interface,
with the power to rewrite flights at will. And for whatever reason our
narrator has the right kind of speaking-to-manager powers to use him as the
sudo interface.

Every bulk customer service process has its "exceptions", and this is clearly
one of them. The role of humans is to understand the exception and turn it
into pieces which the API will accept, either through the normal interface or
the sudo interface.

See also
[http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/category/callcentre/](http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/category/callcentre/)
\- it's a short series, start at the bottom.

" Asymmetric legibility characterises call centres, and it’s dreadful. Within,
management tries to maintain a panopticon glare at the staff. Without, the
user faces an unmapped territory, in which the paths are deliberately obscure,
and the details the centre holds on you are kept secret. Call centres know a
lot about you, but won’t say; their managers endlessly spy on the galley
slaves; you’re not allowed to know how the system works.

...

Inappropriate automation and human/machine confusion bedevil call centres. If
you could solve your problem by filling in a web form, you probably would have
done. The fact you’re in the queue is evidence that your request is
complicated, that something has gone wrong, or generally that human
intervention is required."

~~~
paultopia
Hah, this is wise... and this whole conversation is evidence that tech does
need the humanities, as many of these problems could be helped if more
engineers spent more time reading Kafka...

~~~
TeMPOraL
Call centres are not a creation of engineers, but of suits - exploiting people
on both ends of the phone to profit for themselves. Getting engineers to read
works of Kafka won't do anything to solve this problem.

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toyg
The "above/below API" metaphore is a good update for the description of a
process affecting most jobs ever since the industrial revolution happened. The
API of yesterday was the production line, where you are the one
designing/paying for/maintaining the line, or you do what the line needs you
to do. We notice a difference simply because the new production line is
computerized, so this dynamic now applies to "intellectual" jobs as well - but
it's just another form of mechanization.

A lot of books from the '60s and '70s (and before) are worth re-reading,
they've exhamined this scenario extensively, back then.

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sixdimensional
I've been pondering the theory that economic activity is a sort of glue that
keeps humans occupied, and that humans being occupied is generally better than
humans being unoccupied.

For example, there are theories that posit that economic activity and global
trade prevent war due to the dependencies that those processes create - you
can't destroy those you are dependent on without destroying yourself. However,
it's equally easy to slip into chaos when those processes are manipulated or
corrupted - see present day.

Perhaps what we are really seeing here is that the underlying forces that
control life have not changed at all. Survival, competition, environmental
change, adaptability, intelligence and evolution - if you believe in those
concepts - are still the root forces driving everything.

What we have now are many layers of abstractions on top of the underlying
forces. Literally in the term API is "interface" implying the abstraction on
what could be either a human or machine process. Even machines compete for
resources, since they have plenty of requirements to continue functioning -
although they have different capabilities that go far beyond human abilities,
and other areas where they lack the abilities humans have.

Economic activity is yet another type of abstraction designed to, hopefully,
ensure the survival of a majority - although that too is an arguable point I'm
sure.

I really enjoyed reading the article - this is mixing social
science/humanities with IT/IS - a favorite topic.

I personally believe that man and machine are both of nature (a strong
opinion, but quite debatable I'm sure). As such, we should be able to describe
our relationship in terms of natural relationships - for example, parasitic,
symbiotic, etc. This "above and below" the API and involvement of humans in
those activities seems to imply something similar.

Thanks for sharing!

~~~
tareqak
I don't think it's simply a binary occupied vs. unoccupied. If you are
overworked (too occupied), then there are one set of potential problems (e.g.
negative impacts on physical and mental health). If you are unemployed (too
unoccupied), then your economic opportunities might be limited. Scaling either
situation across many, many human beings results in negative social
consequences of one form or another.

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chaimedes
I totally agree with this article, except:

 _" That’s what tax preparers are – they use the exact same software that
anyone can use at home, but they allow you to talk to a human instead of
learning the software"_

IMHO this is one of those edge cases where software might simplify the process
99 times out of 100, but a skilled/experienced human may help avoid uncommon
but costly mistakes. There is enough nuance and vagueness in taxes that it
pays to have a human look over your numbers -- even if they use software to do
it.

~~~
toyg
Taxes cannot be completely automated because they are laws. Laws are expressed
in language, and language is not exact - _even our own understanding of such
language will change through the years_ , as any constitutional scholar can
attest.

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ajeet_dhaliwal
The lady with the iPad situation sort of happened to me at McDonalds
yesterday. I ordered from their touch screen. Their system told me to come up
to collect my food but when I got there the person working asked me if I was
different order number, i said no and she told me to stand away, I told her
the system has told me to come up and I had not even finished speaking before
her colleague handed me my order.

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js8
From the comments:

"Mcdonalds around the world with those touchscreen ordering kiosks as well as
live staff – the live staff are just essentially operating the touchscreen for
you behind the counter."

They are not. I always use live staff because I cannot order no ice in the
drink from the touchscreen.

~~~
jessaustin
Every McD's I've seen in the last decade has forced the customer to pour her
own drink? The one closest to me right now just leaves stacks of cups next to
the touchscreens, presumably relying on a combination of the honor system and
hidden cameras to catch soda thieves.

It's funny to think back to when I was a kid and Burger King was the first to
innovate pouring one's own drink. They discovered they could save more by
firing the drink-pourer than they spent by allowing customers to refill their
cup. As kids, we just enjoyed the opportunity to mix up some suicides...

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Lord_Zero
Paul, the Left Hand's Milk Stout is one of my favorite beers. You were meant
to try that beer that day.

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Ftuuky
That link name is probably the reason why corporate proxy blocked it.

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dave_aiello
This article is really funny.

I wrote the API for [https://RinkAtlas.com](https://RinkAtlas.com), as well as
everything else that is RinkAtlas. So I thought, based solely on the title,
that the article might apply to me.

It doesn't really apply to me, since I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and
drive my car nearly everywhere I need to go.

But the references to airlines and airports are ancillary to the points he's
making about jobs in this world economy in 2018.

~~~
Rjevski
Almost every single comment you've posted so far mentions your website. While
it's great that you're proud of your creation, it is not a valid reason to
pitch it especially when it's completely irrelevant to the discussion.

~~~
dave_aiello
OK, thanks. If you feel that way, probably others do as well. I'd delete that
comment if I could.

