A collision on the Washington Metro on 22 June killed nine people and injured 76. According to The Washington Post, early indications suggest a computer system may have malfunctioned, and various accounts have raised questions about whether the driver of the speeding train applied the brakes in time. Investigations often focus attention on discrete aspects of machine or human error, whereas the real problem tends to lie in the relationship between humans and their automated systems. "It is easy to focus on the last act that may or may not have prevented the collision," said John D. Lee, professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin. "But you can trace the accident back to purchasing decisions, maintenance decisions and track layout. To lay the blame on the end result of when and how quickly someone activated the brake may not help with improving safety." Lee pointed out that making automated systems safer leads to a paradox at the heart of all human-machine interactions: "The better you make the automation, the more difficult it is to guard against these catastrophic failures in the future, because the automation becomes more and more powerful, and you rely on it more and more." John Lee is joined by Greg Jamieson and Raja Parasuraman later in the article to acknowledge the consensus that automated systems should be designed to enhance human performance rather than to supplant operators or make them complacent. Source: Washington Post, 29 June 2009. tinyurl.com/lghtq9
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