Forgiving Computers: The Rise of Automation and Implications for Counseling

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.