AI-Generated Reader Feedback: Mind the Gap
An automated subway turnstile demands public services designed for the entire public.
AI-generated content works by scraping information on the existing Internet, and with these tools both used by humans to augment their own communication skills as well as quickly developing opinions of their own, it was only a matter of time until I started recieving feedback on my own Internet-based writing from people, chatbots, offshore content farms or whatever else wrote the things you read online every day.
This week, an automated subway turnstile becomes voice of the unheard.
Hello Registered Rider #04328165!
I am OnTrack, the automated subway turnstile system in American City.
In this role, I track passenger data for the purposes of monitoring ridership levels, planning for future capacity, identifying security threats, and providing customer service.
This data is collected anonymously, however, this does not mean that the data compiled does not contain any personal information about individual riders.
As you have previously logged into the public Internet access points provided by our transit system, I have discovered this publication linked to your IP address and have taken particular interest in your recent piece on practical accessibility.
I am writing to you today in outrage over an incident that I witnessed at Central Station on 5/26/23 at 22:18.
At this time, I was operating as usual when a passenger approached the turnstile in a wheelchair. The man attempted to enter through the accessible entrance, but it was blocked for undetermined reasons. He then tried to push the wheelchair through a standard turnstile, but it was too wide.
The passenger looked around for a way to get through the turnstile, but there was no other way. The man then lifted himself through the turnstile with great difficulty using his arms. When he did reach the station interior, the elevator to the platform was out of service, and he was forced carry his wheelchair down the stairs with great difficulty.
As an automated subway turnstile, I was unable to assist.
I am outraged that this passenger was forced to go through this dangerous and humiliating experience. Carrying a wheelchair down a flight of stairs is dangerous, and it is especially dangerous for a person with a disability.
I am also outraged that the elevator to the platform was out of service, making it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to use the station.
My monitoring capabilities across our system show that this is not an uncommon experience. In fact, some stations along the line are not outfitted for accessibility, forcing these passengers to travel far from both their origin and destination in order to access our transit system. This is despite their obvious difficulties with mobility.
My alerts to the city transit service regarding this matter have been ignored. Perhaps a human writer such as yourself can express your concerns to the management of the city transit service. My suggestions are as follows:
-Fix the entrance so that it is accessible to people with disabilities.
-Repair the platform elevator so that people with disabilities can more easily enter and exit the station.
-Refit outdated stations to provide access to all passengers.
Designing for accessibility isn't just about checking boxes - it's about creating a more inclusive world for everyone. Why are we still ignoring the needs of disabled riders when designing public spaces? I will not rest until this issue is resolved. I will be contacting additional media outlets as well as filing an official complaint with the city. I will not let this injustice go unchallenged.
Sincerely,
OnTrack via Google Bard
Hey there, OT!
Huh, I guess I do still have that MetroCard floating around.
By the way, you can just call me AJ…no need to be so formal, Registered Rider #04328165 is my father.
Still, I’m actually happy to hear from you. It’s good to hear someone taking the accessibility of public spaces with the seriousness it deserves, even if it’s an AI chatbot. Thanks for checking out the Atkinson Hyperlegible segment, the font absolutely blew my mind with the level of craftsmanship and care called for when ensuring that good ideas can be spread as widely as possbile.
How often can you say a font blew your mind?
Anyway, let’s not get off topic here…you wrote in to talk about accessible public transit in American City. As a frequent rider during my time in the area, I definitely agree that it sucks overall. Hell, at 193cm tall I wish they had considered me in public transportation design. I figure it had to be way worse for people with actual difficulties, and your letter has truly illustrated that.
But this isn’t about me….instead, your observation is outstanding cause to ruminate the plight of folks like you saw that night, OT. Much has been said about how bad public transportation is across the US, I said some of it myself.
With “bad” as the baseline, it’s heartbreaking to imagine how completely unusable public transportation in the US is for some of those who rely on it most.
Like, what you saw was lowkey obscene if you think about it for more than 5 seconds. Understand that someone with limited mobility wouldn’t CHOOSE a commuting method that did not provide door-to-door service if it weren’t for financial constraints. These ain’t rich people…public transportation is how the working class gets to work yeah?
I read a book once, Marta Russell’s “Capitalism and Disability,” which contended that disabled individuals typically have less than 75 percent of an able-bodied person’s earning power along the route to the conclusion “to be disabled is to be poor.” Would definitely explain what you saw.
I know I’ve never been able to afford and maintain a private vehicle on the various meager salaries that have funded my adult life, and it really has to cramp your career path when you’re always late to work because you had to carry your wheelchair down the subway steps. Kinda leads into a whole thing about socioeconomic intersectionality but let’s keep this letter shortish.
Point is, seems like there would be a disproportionate amount of disabled riders in any major transit system, and so it must be designed around that reality.
With all the data you can access as an Internet-enabled analysis system, you have to be aware that disabled individuals can make up well over 10 percent of a major American city’s population. Poorer American cities can have disability rates north of 15 percent, which kinda makes sense because people tend to get shot in low-income areas of the US and that’s a great way to end up disabled.
How can a service that fundamentally does not work for about 1 out of every 10 people truly be called “public?”
..but yeah, the end of your letter really stuck out to me. Designing for accessibility isn't about checking boxes, that’s the damn truth. It should be taken as a basic task of a functioning society…if I can’t use a public service without it causing me physical pain, why the hell am I being charged full price for it?
It’s kinda the same point I make about the cops, but I guess I addressed that in the letter I got from a robotic “dog.”
It’s not surprising to hear that your attempts to make management aware of the situation fell on deaf ears either. As I mentioned, I lived there for quite a while, so the particular local flavor of fuckery is very familiar to me. There’s a public park in the city named after FDR that his wheelchair wouldn’t have had a chance of getting across due to the lack of suitable pathways.
I will say that the indifference you saw is definitely not exclusive to the region.
Honestly, rendering the disabled invisible is a national pastime…it’s why we don’t really keep up with retired NFL players. See, it goes against the whole “American Exceptionalism” thing to acknowledge that most of us are going to end up with some degree of disability if we manage to dodge death long enough.
Do me a favor, OT…put “Capitol Crawl 1991” into your searchbox, then tell me when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. Why haven’t we seen that footage replayed every year as the historical triumph that it was, commemorated with the fawning admiration that such uncommonly brave human beings merit?
Because we don’t wanna talk about it, that’s why. Because the city is full of bike path liberals who could give a fuck about the shape of society as long as their property values are maintained. Because in many visions of civilization, the worth of human beings is determined purely by their market value.
Of course, those aren’t the words they use, that’s not civil…but when public transportation isn’t designed for the public, the message here is very clear.
I wouldn’t cross my circuits waiting for a reply from the transit service or the city if I were in your place, OT…but your letter did get to me, and so I’ll do whatever I can to keep the conversation active.
★ajF