Beyond RoboDebt

Automated decision support systems with high stake decision processes are frequently controversial. The Online Compliance Intervention (herewith “OCI” or “RoboDebt”) is a system of compliance implemented with the intention to facilitate automatic issuance of statutory debt notices to individuals, taking a receipt of welfare payments and exceeding their entitlement. The system appears to employ rudimentary data scraping and expert systems to determine whether notices should be validly issued. However, many individuals that take receipt of debt notices assert that they were issued in error. The commentary on the system has resulted in a lot of conflation of the system with other system types and caused many to question the role of decision of support systems in public administration given the potentially deleterious impacts of such systems for the most vulnerable. The authors employ a taxonomy of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) issues, to review the OCI and RPA more generally. This paper identifies potential problems of bias, inconsistency, procedural fairness, and overall systematic error. This research also considers a series of RoboDebt specific issues regarding contractor arrangements and the potential impact of the system for Australia's Indigenous population. The authors offer a set of recommendations based on the observed challenges, emphasizing the importance of moderation, independent algorithmic audits, and ongoing reviews. Most notably, this paper emphasizes the need for greater transparency and a broadening of criteria to determine vulnerability that encompasses, temporal, geographic, and technological considerations.

Predicting Partner’s Digital Transformation Based on Artificial Intelligence

Partner’s digital transformation is one of the most important metrics for businesses, particularly for businesses in the subscription world. Hence, how to predict partner transformation is a consistent focus in the industry. In this paper, we use an AI (Artificial Intelligence) relevant algorithm to analyze partner’s digital transformation issues and propose a novel method, named the hybrid VKR (VAE, K-means, and random forest) algorithm, to predict partner transformation. We apply our algorithm to partner transformation issues. First, we show the prediction of about 5980 partners from 25689 partners, who are transformed and sorted according to important indicators. Secondly, we recap the tremendous effort that was required by the company to obtain high-quality results for economic change when a partner is transforming along with one or many of the transformation dimensions. Finally, we identify unethical behavior by looking through deal transaction data. Overall, our work sheds light on several potential problems in partner transformation and calls for improved scientific practices in this area.

The Improved Interpolating Dimension Splitting Element-Free Galerkin Method for 3D Potential Problems

This paper proposes the improved interpolating dimension splitting element-free Galerkin (IIDSEFG) method based on the nonsingular weight function for three-dimensional (3D) potential problems. The core of the IIDSEFG method is to transform the 3D problem domain into a series of two-dimensional (2D) problem subdomains along the splitting direction. For the 2D problems on these 2D subdomains, the shape function is constructed by the improved interpolating moving least-squares (IIMLS) method based on the nonsingular weight function, and the finite difference method (FDM) is used to couple the discretized equations in the direction of splitting. Finally, the calculation formula of the IIDSEFG method for a 3D potential problem is derived. Compared with the improved element-free Galerkin (IEFG) method, the advantages of the IIDSEFG method are that the shape function has few undetermined coefficients and the essential boundary conditions can be executed directly. The results of the selected numerical examples are compared by the IIDSEFG method, IEFG method and analytical solution. These numerical examples illustrate that the IIDSEFG method is effective to solve 3D potential problems. The computational accuracy and efficiency of the IIDSEFG method are better than the IEFG method.

Perception and Expectation of EFL Students on Ideal Online Learning: A Survey Study in an Indonesian Islamic Higher Education

The present study is aimed to investigate EFL students’ perception on the use of Google Classroom as an online learning platform and their expectation on an ideal online learning. 112 EFL students at State Islamic University of Mataram responded the survey study which was designed with open-ended questions. Students’ responses were qualitatively analyzed to find the main themes and sub-themes. The finding reveals that most students, 67%, perceived the use of Google classroom negatively due to the potential problems such as technical and financial problems that lead to misunderstanding on materials delivered by the teachers. On the other hand, 27% of the students have a positive perception in terms of the ease of use and its flexibility and accessibility. The least perception from the students is neutral especially from those who play safe by perceiving the perception from both positive and negative side. Furthermore, the students proposed an ideal online learning that employ an effective teaching method and curriculum, provide such complete facilities as well combine both online and offline mode (blended learning).

CROSS-WORLD PREDICATION: TYPE-THEORETICAL AND SET-THEORETICAL FORMALIZATION

В статье описываются некоторые потенциальные проблемы теории кросс-мировой предикации Е. Борисова и предлагаются альтернативные формализации в терминах теории типов с зависимыми типами и теории множеств. Преимущество теоретико-типовой формализации состоит в её простоте, связанной с наличием в теории типов функций в зависимые типы. Преимущество предлагаемой теоретико-множественной формализации состоит в большей близости к традиционным подходам и отсутствии некоторых неинтуитивных следствий, таких как предикация по несуществующим объектам. The paper examines some potential problems of the theory of cross-world predication by E. Borisov and suggests alternative formalizations in terms of type theory with dependent types and set theory. The advantage of the type-theoretical formalization lies in its simplicity based on the presence of functions to dependent types. The advantage of the proposed set-theoretical formalization is a greater closeness to traditional approaches and the lack of some non-intuitive effects such as the predication on non-existing objects.

The Need for Ecotourism at Our Third Pole and Their Sustainable Development and Policy Responses

The term ecotourism was originally proposed to rethink culture, education, and tourism, and has developed into a foundational concept for international natural ecological sustainability. This paper uses a combination of desktop research and literature research to explore the necessity, feasibility, and sustainability of ecotourism in the Third Pole, specifically analyzing the current situation, strengths and weaknesses, and four potential problems of ecotourism in the Tibetan Plateau, and making recommendations, including, but not limited to, the introduction of encouraging and restrictive policies for local tourism practitioners and people from the tourism industry.