When Computers Are Wrong
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A printed balance looks like a fact. It is the output of software, and software has faults. In one country, an accounting system showed money missing at many small post offices, and people were prosecuted on its figures. Years later, a court found that the system was not reliable and the trials had not been fair.
Focus: when a case depends on what a computer produced, someone must be able to test whether the computer was right.
Learning objectives
- Tell a record that a computer stored from a result that a computer generated.
- Explain what a presumption of reliability does, and the main criticism of it.
- State what the Post Office Horizon appeals decided, and why.
- List the material that lets a court test a system's output.
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