Mastodawn

Kashmir Hill Feb 3, 2023

Apple’s new algorithm to detect whether someone has been in a car accident is wreaking havoc for 911 call centers this ski season. Yet another example of a good idea from a technology company in theory that has problems in practice. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/health/apple-watch-911-emergency-call.html

Why Apple Watches Keep Calling 911

Dispatchers for 911 are being inundated with false, automated distress calls from Apple devices owned by skiers who are very much alive.

Show thread

C.

@kashhill

> another example of a good idea from a technology company in theory

It was never a good idea. Any engineer I know would have told you, from the moment this feature was proposed, that it would generate far more false positives than it would detect actual accidents in need of assistance. No engineer thought this was a good, workable idea.

What it's yet another example of is an idea the marketing people in a tech company thought was good, despite being told in advance it wasn't.