Permit A38: the dilemma of artificial intelligence

In “The Twelve Tasks of Asterix”, Asterix and Obelix have a seemingly simple task, to go into an office block (“The Place That Sends You Mad”) and get “Permit A38”, to allow them to continue. Of course, it’s not that simple: the staff keep misdirecting them, and the building itself is a confusing maze.

Eventually, of course, the heroes win out – at the point of despair, Asterix takes a different tack, demanding instead (the entirely fictitious) new Permit A39, introduced by (the also fictitious) Memorandum B65, creating chaos among the staff. The manager gives them Permit A38 just to get rid of them, then he too goes mad.

To this day, the term “Permit A38” is used as a cultural allusion to excessively and impossibly bureaucratic processes, especially in continental Europe.

Artificial intelligence can turn many tasks into Permit A38 challenges. At first, they seem simple, especially in our heads. But the real world has a habit of throwing the complexities back at us. Experienced coders will talk of yak shaving, which is one manifestation of this process. We iterate as we conscientiously try to complete a task, but with each iteration the challenges get deeper and more infuriating, maybe leading to success, maybe to stress, frustration, and despair.

Artificial intelligence and modernization

In principle, artificial intelligence should enable us to modernize previously untouched processes, the residues, the things that could never before be automated affordably or at scale. But it is no panacea, no silver bullet. It cannot be, because the real world is messy and complicated.

Together along with other late modern technologies (e.g., cellular phones, interactive voice response systems, two factor authentication, even email), artificial intelligence both manufactures and individualizes new risks¹. These technologies create new risks that did not exist before (phishing, deepfakes) and offload them on the least powerful people. Like Asterix and Obelix, navigating these risks becomes a personal challenge, fighting what isn’t even a system, but an interlocking maze of people, organizations, and policies, each of which seems superficially rational alone, but taken collectively, they are enough to send anyone mad.

Asterix’s strategy was to turn the tables on the bureaucracy, to play their game, temporarily, in the pursuit of a greater goal. But then, he only needs to get to the next challenge. And Asterix knows it’s all just a cartoon² – anything goes.

Unlike Asterix, we can’t escape from the rules of the game. Maybe it’s the bank that won’t allow us access to our money, or the doctor that we cannot call to request an appointment, or the app that won’t let us log in. Frankly, we don’t care, we want to get on with our lives, and we don’t want technology that makes things harder for us.

Cognitive misers

People are, for the most part, cognitive misers. We do not want to put in effort unless we need to. We prefer to reserve our energies for the things that matter to us: our families and friends, our leisure, our creativity, even our work. If technology begins to demand high-level strategic thinking from us, simply to achieve basic tasks, it is a red flag that we are building socially harmful systems.

But this cuts two ways. Organizations can also act as cognitive misers. They also seek to optimize their resources. When they have sufficient clout, they can begin to offload what used to be their work onto their customers and clients. We use the self-checkout. We buy products online. All too easily, like Asterix and Obelix, we slip into accepting the system as it is, conceding the burdens we are given, without questioning the sanity or the ethics of it.

The dilemma of artificial intelligence

All automation is effectively a transfer of labour from the provider to the consumer – and we forget that at our peril. Artificial intelligence has great potential, but it opens up a whole new realm for automation. The problem is, this has the potential to greatly magnify both harms and benefits, and we are not being systematic about which to pursue.

And here is our dilemma. Artificial intelligence – as a set of technologies – does provide tools for handling some complex real problems. But, if we are not thoughtful about how we design our interactions, so that we begin from the perspective of the human experience, not from what the technology can do, we are contributing to the harmful fragmentation and corrosive structures of modern society. That is on us.

Sadly, the people who can do this are rare. We need people who understand psychology, society, and technology, all in one. We need people with the skills to observe people, listen to them, learn about their motivations and problems, their pitfalls and pratfalls, not just to adapt current systems but to reshape them. People who are driven to build a better world for people, not corporations or technologies. This is a rare combination. We know it’s rare, because everywhere we look in modern society, we can see the failures of technology leading to obvious and avoidable harms. Approaches like UX and design thinking can help us on the way, but they can risk replacing a genuine empathy with a process that mimics it.

The Place That Sends You Mad?

I can empathize with Asterix and Obelix, faced with mindless bureaucracy. Their encounter with “The Place That Sends You Mad” is immediately recognizable. But today’s artificial intelligence, along with a cluster of other modernizing technologies, is transforming it. Bureaucracy is no longer limited to the office block.

Modern technology is now pervasive. We can no longer choose not to use an app, or a cellphone. Technology is not neutral. It is the stuff of systems, the building blocks from which we choose to built the ways we interface with each other, with our employers, our governments, and our media. It can make a difference, it can also induce significant mental distress, not just within the confines of an office block, but every day, in our homes, in our safe places. Compliance with the demands of technology is not a choice, increasingly, it is required of us.

It is on us to use these building blocks wisely and well. We are not doing great so far, so let’s up our game and consciously choose to be better, to create a world that makes people happy and relaxed, not stressed, not frustrated, and not mad with anger. Don’t make people chase Permit A38, help them get on with their lives.

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