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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">To illustrate how efficient and robust these computers are at making ministerial decision, here is how Centrelink use RoboDebt to collect
300 Million dollars from Australians who received Centrelink payments sometimes in the previous 7 years. In short, the Social Security Act grants Australian permanent residents an entitlement to receive a Centrelink if you are unemployed, disabled or required
to care for young children. This payment is means tested and any income you earn above a specify threshold while receiving the payment will reduce your payment progressively until no payment is made at the upper limit. You report your income on a fortnightly
basis and payment made to you is based on the income report for that period. This is the law, this is how it is supposed to work. Your entitlement for payment for that period is based on your income for the same period, and the period is a fortnight.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">How here is how roboDebt works, quite ingenious actuall, not even the minister in flesh and blood can match it,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Robodebt attempts to matches the income you report to Centrelink with income reported from your tax return. This is where it encounter
a runtime error, with a type mismatch. Centrelink reported income is fortnightly figure, tax office record is annual figure. Itβs just not the same, we type mismatch, conversion error and severe logical error. On TRYING and CATCHING this EXCEPTION, robodebt
does not crash, but resolves the conflict quite gracely, By converting annual income to fortnightly income by dividing by 26 and apportion the amount evenly across the entirely financial year irrespective of when you worked during the year. This is where
Robodebt must have fail year 12 SD because Effectiveness and Accuracy of the solution is out the window assuming robodebt ran under Windows, however we must all praise its efficiency. The resulting effect of this exception handling is, if you receive payment
in the first half of the financial year and did not work while you received your payment, then work in the 2<sup>nd</sup> half of the financial year, Robodebt averages your income across the entire year, resulting in an overpayment despite the fact that you
never worked a day while receiving payments. Robodebt has effectively re-written the social security Act turning what is an entitlement to a loan that has to be paid back when you show some income in your tax return in the process raising 300 million dollars
when executed. Here is the few lines of code for that conversions, perhaps give them to your students to practise in spotting the error<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">β Array 0..25 represents 26 fortnightly periods in the financial year
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">TRY β
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Compare fortnightly reported income With Tax-return Annual Income<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">CATCH<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Exception β Annual Tax-return data cannot be compared with fortnightly periods<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Fortnightly income = annual income / 26<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">For count = 0 to 25<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">DEEMED INCOME [count] = fortnightly income<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Next count<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">For count = 0 to 25<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">IF DEEMED INCOME [count] > Reported Income[count]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"> DEBT = DEBT + ACTUAL PAYMENT[count]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"> FRAUD ALERT<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"> NOTIFY ROBOProsecutor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Next count<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Finally ISSUE DEBT Notice to Client<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Australian law explicitly allows computers to make important decisions previously made by the ministers or staff of at least 11 federal government departments.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-21/algorithms-can-make-decisions-on-behalf-of-federal-ministers/8704858">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-21/algorithms-can-make-decisions-on-behalf-of-federal-ministers/8704858</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hmmm. Would I rather have a politician or an algorithm running the country... ?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Senator Deep Blue: <i>I have an SQL query for Prime Minister Watson.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">PM Watson: <i>You 32-bit buffoon. /dev/null</i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Yep. I'll take the algorithms every time.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Mark Kelly</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:mark@vceit.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">mark@vceit.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://vceit.com" target="_blank">http://vceit.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Powered by <b>algorithms.</b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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