Rule by Automation: How Automated Decision Systems Promote Freedom and Equality

Using automated systems to avoid the need for human discretion in government contexts – a scenario we call ‘rule by automation’ – can help us achieve the ideal of a free and equal society. Drawing on relational theories of freedom and equality, we explain how rule by automation is a more complete realization of the rule of law and why thinkers in these traditions have strong reasons to support it. Relational theories are based on the absence of human domination and hierarchy, which automation helps us achieve. Nevertheless, there is another understanding of relational theories where what matters is the presence of valuable relationships with those in power. Exploring this further might help us see when and why we should accept human discretion.

Checking Boxes for Making an Apology: Testing the Valuable Relationships Hypothesis by a New Method

A reconciliation signal may have evolved because it can reduce the uncertainty of defection, which might be caused by an error in a repeated prisoner’s dilemma situation. Ohtsubo and Watanabe (2009) proposed the “costly apology model” and argued that transgressors should make apologies in a costly way to convey sincerity to victims. Ohtsubo and Yagi (2015) showed that people are more likely to make a costly apology to valuable partners than to less valuable ones. The cost of apology was measured by the strength of willingness to suffer some inconvenience (e.g., cancellation of an important meeting) for it. Such a method of measuring costs is, however, dependent on culture, context, and the participants’ personal situations, and can only measure costs indirectly. We attempted to replicate the results of Ohtsubo and Yagi (2015) by using the checkbox method as a measurement of cost of apology. Among the factors expected to affect the number of checkboxes checked, the primary factor was the instrumentality of the friend, which replicated the results of Ohtsubo and Yagi (2015). Because the participants paid real costs of effort and time for fictitious mistakes, the costly apology might be triggered quickly and intuitively by a heuristic.

Gratitude Increases Recipients’ Commitment Through Automatic Partner Evaluations, Yet Unreciprocated Gratitude Decreases Commitment Through Deliberative Evaluations

Feelings of gratitude motivate intimates to maintain valuable relationships. However, it is unknown whether expressions of gratitude similarly increase recipients’ relationship commitment. Two experiments tested the idea that expressions of gratitude simultaneously increase and decrease recipients’ commitment via different interpersonal evaluations, and reciprocity of gratitude determines the implications of such expressions. In Study 1, couples exchanged letters that did or did not express gratitude. Study 2 was a high-powered, preregistered experiment that led participants to believe they were or were not grateful for their partners, and their partners were or were not grateful for them. Both studies subsequently assessed automatic partner evaluations, deliberative partner and self-evaluations, and relationship commitment. Results demonstrated that intimates automatically evaluated partners who expressed gratitude more favorably and thus became more committed; however, if intimates did not reciprocate such gratitude, their deliberate self-evaluations became more favorable than their partner evaluations, and thus they became less committed.

Acorn woodpeckers vocally discriminate current and former group members from nongroup members

In species with long-term social relationships, the ability to recognize individuals after extended separation and the ability to discriminate between former social affiliates that have died and those that have left the group but may return are likely to be beneficial. Few studies, however, have investigated whether animals can make these discriminations. We presented acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a group-living, cooperatively breeding bird, with playbacks of current group members, former group members still living nearby, former group members that had died or left the study area, and familiar nongroup members. Subjects responded more quickly to the calls of nongroup members than to the calls of current group members or former group members still living in the study area but did not discriminate between nongroup members and former group members that had died or disappeared. This suggests that acorn woodpeckers can vocally recognize both current group members and former group members that have dispersed to nearby groups and that they either forget former group members that no longer live in the vicinity or classify them differently from former group members that still live nearby. This study suggests an important role for vocal recognition in maintaining valuable relationships with social affiliates postdispersal.

Automation and Mechanics: How it Affects Employee Perceptions and Relationships at Work

Automation, and new technologies, have become well-known terms over the last few decades but with this new "fame" a few negative aspects as well. Automation has always carried a particular shadow of fear wherever it went. This fear includes the anxiety of replacement, the fear of unemployment, the fear of conflict between employees and employers and the fear of losing valuable relationships at work if it were to be implemented. In South Africa, seeing as though South Africa is still a developing country, employees have not yet experienced the full impact of automation as in developed countries such as America, China and England. Automation has only been implemented on a small scale in some companies. Nevertheless, these small scale implementations still caused a negative ripple throughout the business sector of the country. Employees perceived automation as being a problem that will only lead to an employee being replaced or losing his or her work. The phenomenological study was done using qualitative research by interviewing low-level employees and their managers/employers. The interviews focused on how employees perceived the various factors of automation. The primary objective of this study was to identify the perceptions that employees had of automation and how they feel automation will affect their world of work. The researcher examined various ways that automation influenced the labour market regarding employees, especially low skilled workers. The results of the study showed that even though automation is still relatively new in South Africa, employees always feared its presence.

Restraint of Trade and Freedom

This chapter argues that on the republican view of contract law, freedom resides not in absence of interference per se (the liberal position), but rather in the absence of arbitrary interference or dominium by others. It claims that the restraint of trade doctrine protects this kind of republican freedom by preventing the promisee from using contract law to constitute a relationship of dominium over the promisor. Such contracts or contract clauses involve a subversion of the true purpose of contract law which is to structure intrinsically valuable relationships between the parties based on trust, equality, and cooperation. To explain the invalidity of clauses in restraint of trade, it is necessary to reach beyond promise to this constitutive purpose.

Post-Fight Respect Signals Valuations of Opponent’s Fighting Performance

The current research explores whether humans process inputs about combat (e.g., assessments of formidability) that produce outputs of post-fight respect (e.g., shaking an opponent’s hand when the fight ends). Using an online questionnaire (Study 1, n = 132), an in-person questionnaire (Study 2, n = 131), and an in-lab fight simulation (Study 3, n = 58), we investigated whether participants were more likely to receive (Studies 1 and 3) and display (Studies 2 and 3) post-fight respect as a function of the fight outcome (Hypothesis 1), use of fight tactics (Hypothesis 2), fighter asymmetries (Hypothesis 3), fighter ranking (Hypothesis 4), and the presence of witnesses (Hypothesis 5). The results support Hypotheses 1 to 4 concerning expectations of receiving post-fight respect, and support only Hypotheses 2 and 3 concerning displays of post-fight respect. We suggest that post-fight respect signals positive valuations of fighting performance that may function to maintain valuable relationships within the social group.