Forgiving Computers: The Rise of Automation and Implications for Counseling

Andrew Prahl*, Robert D. Enright

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is becoming common for decisions with serious consequences to be made by automation. Therefore, it is important for counselors to consider the challenges of working with clients who are affected. If a high-consequence decision that leads to tragedy is made by a computer, does this change the counseling process? This article starts this discussion by investigating forgiveness therapy as it applies to computers. First, forgiving a human is qualitatively different from forgiving a computer. Next, examples of automated decisions are presented. Finally, the authors discuss issues that clients wishing to forgive a computer face, suggest interventions, and propose a research agenda.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)144-158
Number of pages15
JournalCounseling and Values
Volume62
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Religious studies

Keywords

  • automation
  • computers
  • counseling
  • forgiveness
  • philosophy

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