What We Keep Human: The edge case is not a bug!
By Joel Leslie
Season 4, Episode 12
Duration: 00:25:18
Episode summary
What do we choose to keep human? In the final episode of Season 4, we bring Decoded: AI for Everyone back to the central idea of Applied Intelligence: not using AI for everything, but knowing where it helps, where it distorts, and where human judgement must remain. This episode looks at the people caught inside automated systems when something goes wrong. The booking that cannot be fixed. The account that should not have been cancelled. The customer service agent who can see the problem, but has no authority to override the system. We call them edge cases because they sit outside the normal process. But in the real world, the edge case is a human being. As AI and automation become more common across travel, banking, healthcare, customer service, work and daily life, the question is not only whether the system works. It is whether someone can still listen, intervene, override and repair when the system is wrong. This episode also touches on bit flips, single-event upsets, aviation, electronic voting, and even Super Mario 64 to show how small errors can travel through automated systems when there is no effective appeal path. The useful habit is simple: Before relying on any automated or AI-assisted process, ask where the human override is. Because human judgement is not just about making decisions. It is also about fixing them. Resources: Decoded-Podcast.com/resources/s4e12 More AI resources: PromptEngineeringCookbook.com
About Decoded: AI for Everyone
Decoded: AI for Everyone is Joel Leslie's non-technical podcast about artificial intelligence and its impact on work, creativity, decision-making, trust and everyday life. The series helps listeners understand AI without hype, jargon or fear, connecting practical examples to broader questions about technology, people and society.
Joel Leslie is an Australian AI, data and digital transformation leader specialising in safe AI adoption, AI governance, AI ethics and data governance.
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