My city's job application bot thought I was a cat for 3 weeks

I applied for a permit to open a small cafe in Phoenix, and their automated system flagged my application as 'fraudulent' because my last name is Cooper and my business name was 'Cooper's Corner'. The algorithm decided it was a duplicate identity, lol. I spent 21 days calling and emailing before a human finally looked at it and cleared it in 5 minutes. Has anyone else had an algorithm just completely misunderstand basic info like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_max2mo ago

Always ask for a manual review code when you submit. Gets a real person to look at it faster.

logan_mitchell2mo ago

Wait, that actually works?

gibson.morgan1mo ago

That bit about "logic without common sense" you said @nathan100, that's exactly what gets me. These systems are only as good as the people who set them up, and it seems like nobody bothers to think about the simple stuff like names or common words before they turn these things loose on the public.

nathan1002mo ago

I used to believe automated systems were mostly harmless. Your story shows how badly they can fail with simple human details. Getting flagged for matching your own name is a perfect example of logic without common sense. Those three weeks of calls must have been incredibly frustrating. It makes me wonder how many other small business owners hit similar walls. We really need better oversight on these algorithms before they cause real damage.