In this series I am looking at some classic science fiction stories and suggesting how they might be used as the basis for discussions in Computing (and related subjects) classes. The Computing Programme of Study in England gives plenty of scope for discussing the ramifications of developments in technology. The aims, in particular, include the following broad statements:

The national curriculum for computing aims to ensure that all pupils:

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can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology

Spoiler alert: in order to discuss these stories, I have had to reveal the plot and the outcome. However, in each case I’ve provided a link to a book in which you can find the story, should you wish to read it first.

Read the story first to avoid the spoiler below. The link is an Amazon Associate link.

In an astonishing display of prescience, Gordon R. Dickson wrote a short story called Computers Don’t Argue — in 1965. What is significant about that date is that the story’s devastating and terrible ending is caused by an out-of-office reply — which, according to Microsoft, did not come into being until the late 1980s.

These days we have probably all experienced the frustration caused when dealing with a computer system. Quite often I end up digging around the web to find the phone number or email address of an actual person.

For example, I was trying to book a course using some credit, and the computerised system wouldn’t allow it. It took a senior administrator to override the computer system’s protocols and somehow fool the computer into thinking it wasn’t giving me credit! (She did it by changing the price of the course.)

Yesterday, the person at the checkout couldn’t scan an item from my basket because the barcode decided to down tools. In the end, she scanned a completely different product and simply altered the price.

You can’t argue with a computer, which is the whole point of this story.

It’s written in the form of an exchange of letters. A book club customer receives an automated letter from the company’s accounts department. It ends with the customer being executed for murder. Put like that, it sounds ludicrous. However, the writer does an excellent job of both reflecting the annoyance of dealing with a computer program that has no flexibility as well as no intelligence, and highlighting the need for programs to invite human input when the consequences of not doing so can be catastrophic.