{"id":36153,"date":"2025-09-24T14:01:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/?p=36153"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:01:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:01:49","slug":"an-externalapi-is-usually-needed-tomasz-tunguz-and-dan-davies-problem-equals-an-accountability-sink-in-the-unaccountability-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/an-externalapi-is-usually-needed-tomasz-tunguz-and-dan-davies-problem-equals-an-accountability-sink-in-the-unaccountability-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"An ExternalAPI is Usually Needed Tomasz Tunguz and Dan Davies PROBLEM EQUALS an accountability sink in The Unaccountability Machine."},"content":{"rendered":"
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You call the airline to change your delayed flight. The agent says he can\u2019t help\u2014the computer won\u2019t let him. You ask to speak to his manager. She says the same thing. You escalate to her manager. Same response. Everyone wants to help you. No one can. The system has decided, & the system doesn\u2019t explain itself.<\/div>\n
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This is what Dan Davies calls an accountability sink in The Unaccountability Machine.<\/div>\n
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Accountability sinks are systems designed so that when things go wrong, no individual human can be held responsible for fixing them. He argues that \u201cdecisions are delegated to a complex rule book or set of standard procedures, making it impossible to identify the source of mistakes when they happen.\u201d<\/div>\n
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This often happens the larger the organization becomes. It\u2019s a tactic to diffuse risk.<\/div>\n
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With AI, this dynamic is likely to worsen. Quoting from the book, \u201cIn the future, \u2018I blame the system\u2019 is something we will have to get used to saying, and meaning it literally.\u201d<\/div>\n
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I blame the AI.<\/div>\n
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When uttered, those words bring the world to a standstill like a Waymo stopped in the middle of a busy intersection. What\u2019s the next step?<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s fortuitous then that the Founder Mode ethos has arisen at the same time as blaming the AI system. The essence of founder mode is the opposite of accountability sinks. All the responsibility falls to one person.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe extent to which you are able to change a decision is precisely the extent to which you can be accountable for it.\u201d So designing accountable organizations mean defining roles & systems for people where they are accountable & can override the system\u2019s output.<\/div>\n
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In addition, Davies argues for feedback loops from the bottom to the top. Skip-level meetings where a manager\u2019s manager meets with a team member is one example.<\/div>\n
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But in the age of AI, that\u2019s not enough. The digital reams of information racing through an organization may be too much to keep up with. If accountability sinks were a problem before this deluge, imagine the impact afterwards.<\/div>\n
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Redesigning roles and AI systems with human overrides will be essential to ensuring accountability. At least for now, every key decision still needs a person behind it & maybe that\u2019s enough to rebook quickly enough to get home for dinner.<\/div>\n
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Tomasz Tunguz<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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You call the airline to change your delayed flight. The agent says he can\u2019t help\u2014the computer won\u2019t let him. You ask to speak to his manager. She says the same thing. You escalate to her manager. Same response. Everyone wants to help you. No one can. The system has decided, & the pic.x.com\/IEEo1E3AeN<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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9\/22\/25, 4:24\u202fPM<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Chapter 1 to Chapter 14\u2019s an \u201cEaster Egg\u201d at <\/span>#ch1 to #ch14. Including #ch2 which\u2019s chapter 2 at my house in Napa California<\/span><\/div>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ejeIz4EhoJ0<\/span><\/p>\n


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On 09-09-39, “What They Will NEVER Teach You at Stanford Business School” debuts at 300 w 44th St at New York Fashion Week’s front row
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QXIaNZi3mHQ<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

What A Super Model Can Teach a Harvard MBA About Credit www.slideshare.net\/larrychiang\/what-a-super-model-can-teach-a-harvard-mba-about-credit<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

American Express hosts me mentoring you about FICO scores at New York Fashion Week
t.co\/inxTmZAj<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

My video boils down 20,000 hours and moves you to the right on the entrepreneur bell curve 
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eudADPfTWiE<\/span>
<\/span>***********<\/span><\/div>\n

Steve Jobs Texted me on 650-283-8008 in the same way that Mr Jobs called Bill Hewlett <\/span>https:\/\/x.com\/superSaiyanSkai\/status\/1941392367304761636\/video\/1<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/div>\n
Larry Chiang<\/span><\/div>\n
Fund of Founders<\/div>\n
Founding Stanford EIR<\/div>\n
@duck9 alum, Deeply Understood Capital Credit Chinese Knowledge 9<\/div>\n
Solo Founder Uber API<\/div>\n
650-566-9600 Office<\/div>\n
650-566-9696 Direct<\/div>\n
Cell: 415-720-8500 <\/div>\n

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650-283-8008 (cell)<\/span><\/div>\n

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Editor of the widely syndicated “What They Don’t Teach at School”
whattheydontteachyouatstanfordbusinessschool.com\/blog<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CNN Video Channel: ireport.cnn.com\/people\/larrychiang<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Read my last 10 X posts at www.X.com\/LarryChiang<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Author of #WTDTYASBS a NY Times Bestseller released 09-09-09 at #NYFW on a runway under the tents
whattheydontteachyouatstanfordbusinessschool.com\/blog\/?s=Ny+times+bestseller<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

www.fastcompany.com\/embed\/c0d4562ea2049<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

52 Cards. Two Jokers. What They DO Teach You at Stanford Engineering
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vDBY0GkI3-g<\/span><\/p>\n

Emergency swings and cutting deals as an 9 year old
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OFGY7v9C4G0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter Pence shared thoughts before winning WORLD SERIES’ Game #7
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=usu0luYy9pw<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You call the airline to change your delayed flight. The agent says he can\u2019t help\u2014the computer won\u2019t let him. You ask to speak to his manager. She says the same thing. You escalate to her manager. Same response. Everyone wants to help you. No one can. The system has decided, & the system doesn\u2019t explain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}