Power-ups don’t pass levels

Which power-up the level calls for#

When you play Mario, the game hands you power-ups along the way. Sometimes the level calls for the cape, sometimes the fire flower, sometimes the mini mushroom because it’s the only thing that fits the pipe.

The power-up matters, and the player still has to finish the level.

Keeping the player in the picture puts the person back at the center of a conversation that keeps drifting toward the tool. A team that adopts an impressive tool and still isn’t getting past anything has picked up a power-up without passing the level.

It isn’t the player’s job to know which power-up they need#

Reading the level is the product’s job. Handing someone a wall of tools and calling it choice asks them to do the reading I should have done for them.

Model behavior is where the AI conversation meets the older one about who carries complexity. Nobody should have to understand model behavior to get its benefit, just as nobody should need a database administrator’s skills to see their own data.

Four outcomes to check for#

When I’m unsure whether an AI feature is worth shipping, I check whether it helps people with any of these outcomes:

• Agency: being able to choose, shape or own the result
• Clarity: being able to see what has happened and what matters next
• Capability: getting better at the work instead of being routed around
• Belonging: a system that can see both somebody’s situation and what she contributed

Automation without progress#

The four outcomes catch work that got faster while nobody got better at anything, understood more or gained any say. On a dashboard, that work still looks like a win.

Capability is the outcome most often traded away. A tool that routes around someone is usually cheaper to build than one that makes them better at the work.

What stays human in work a regulator will read#

In systems whose output a regulator may read years later, some things shouldn’t be automated at all: the signature, the approval, the attestation, the judgment about whether something is safe.

That boundary is easier to name early than to put back after somebody has automated an attestation.

Back to the level#

The power-up helps, and the player still passes the level. Reading the level and handing over the right power-up is the product’s part.

Sources

• Nielsen, The Power of Defaults
• Safety by Design, eSafety Commissioner