David Brochu: Human beings have become inconvenient for algorithms

To The Daily Sun,

Look around today and readers might feel it: In the eyes of our new automated world, people are becoming an inconvenience. The systems we designed — banks, call centers, even government offices — now run by algorithms and AI, are quietly pushing real humans to the side.

Once, people were the core of every service. Now, calling customer support means talking to a robot. At the doctor’s, more time is spent checking boxes on a screen than actually listening. In stores, shoppers scan and bag their own groceries. For big organizations, the goal is “efficiency,” meaning fewer workers, fewer mistakes, faster reactions — less “mess” caused by human unpredictability.

AI takes this even further. It’s built to minimize errors, spot patterns, and fix problems quickly. To a computer, human beings are the hardest thing to control: We change our minds, need special help, get sick, break the rules, make exceptions, want to be treated as individuals. All that is seen as “disorder” — what scientists call entropy. The system’s new goal is obvious: cut out the disorder, get rid of the inconvenience.

But here’s what the system forgets: Only people can care. Only people can forgive a mistake, offer a kind word, or push back when something is wrong. If we let the system label us as the problem, pretty soon the world will run like a perfect machine — but it will be a cold, silent one.

We built these systems. We should defend our role in them — not just as numbers, but as neighbors, friends, and citizens.

Let’s be inconvenient.

David Brochu

Belmont