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The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Thursday 3 November, 2022
by Anonymous

train tracks splitting

You are a Product Manager and have received a query regarding the fees/charges to a members account. As part of your investigation you have determined that the members account is correct, however, there is the potential for errors in the way the system is capturing the data to derive the fees/charges.

You are very busy focussed on a number of key deliverables and do not have scope for more work. Do you just close the query and take no further action or do you raise the issue with you manager and / or investigate further to determine if there is a systemic problem? You are aware that the additional activity is likely to be allocated to you.

What would you do?

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Comments

There are 6 comments for The ethics of avoiding responsibility.

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Friday 4 November, 2022
by James
The truth is I’d probably ignore it - we are under staffed as it is and there is a bit of a budget freeze.
I know that’s probably not the right thing to do but I’m sure it would be picked up if and when there was an issue. I’d be keen to hear how others feel and ideas on how to deal with these kind of issues. With AI isn’t there always the potential for things to get screwed?

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Friday 4 November, 2022
by Rajni
I will raise it with my manager also highlighting my current workload lack of capacity to investigate this straightaway. I would suggest allocating to someone else or reprioritise my current workload if this is urgent and needs immediate attention.

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Friday 4 November, 2022
by Sam
I can understand how you feel, I don't think you're alone but I also think calling out these potential flaws is the very way and maybe one of the only ways we can keep an eye on the impact of AI. As they say the output is only as good as what is being fed in and if the data is skewed or not correct for the purpose, it is humans, us who need to identify it. Can we really afford to wait for customers to be wrongly done by before we identify mistakes?

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Monday 7 November, 2022
by Mamta
I would certainly raise the issue to my Manager and would ensure that appropriate action has been taken. I think these are the instances where I feel that I go over and beyond my day to day responsibility and aim to make difference everyday in improving our customer experience.

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Monday 7 November, 2022
by Anonymous
You raise the issue and track for investigation and implementation and as a product manager I should have the issue allocated to me, that’s my job. Escalate and prioritise the piece of work – you never know it may turn out to be a storm in a tea cup

Re: The ethics of avoiding responsibility

Monday 21 November, 2022
by Erik
I agree with Anonymous. If you are a product manager and managing your backlog, the work will get prioritised but you don't want to lose sight of the issue.

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