The Great Robertsbridge Train Robbery

[whole diary]

[onthecushions]

Who's interest is it in for the process / time to be so protracted? Is it really necessary to take up to 9 months to come to a conclusion?

The Civil Service, Legal Profession and other professions that write reports of Master's Thesis length.

However, having read the report, it is of exemplary detail, thoroughness and fairness -  just wildly over the top for a modest length of reinstated single line.

When one is paid by the word....

OTC

[stuving]

When one is paid by the word....

OTC

But they aren't, are they? TWA and planning inspector are salaried, and writing reports is a chore. Even lawyers, who used sometimes to invoice by the letter written, really charge for their time, however spent.

But, (as by coincidence I was remarking elsewhere this evening) it was far more of a chore when it involved typing stuff on paper, or at least dictating it and putting a paper document together. These computer things make it all to easy to reuse bits of previous output, and so create megadocs without too much effort.

But reading the things, has that got easier? I doubt it. What currently passes for AI (large Language Models) could, I suspect, be configured to read a document for you and answer specific questions based on its content. But writing a pithier version in the fist place must be preferable.

[eightonedee]

Absolutely correct Stuving. The move to everyone doing their own typing has slowed things considerably,  even though the younger generation are taught to type much quicker than I ever could.

There's also another reason for delay. The larger schemes also have to be reviewed and approved by the Secretary of State.  I am aware of one who delayed publishing an unpopular decision in their own constituency that only appeared on the dissolution of Parliament for an election,  and another some years ago (different party in power) who didn't process their workload and turned unpleasant on their civil servants when they were prompted to process their outstanding paperwork!

[stuving]

By another coincidence (but then isn't this a, if not the, subject of the year) there was a feature article on the employment implications of AI. It says "in an AI-heavy world, lawyers will multiply". This is based on the fact that ChatGPT can write you a report or a draft contract, and can include as much detail as you ask for. So the cost of going to law would fall, leading to an explosion of law suits. But reading this stuff, to agree a contract, or to conduct a case in court, or similar hearings  ...

That was based on American lawyers in particular, but I can also see something similar happening in technical areas - specifications, standards, and the technical parts of contract documents. The people involved in doing this are often less willing to do a lot of reading and writing, but that may not stop it (the shift towards mainly desk-based engineering has been happening for years). Of course in some cases checking the words to make sure they are not a load of hallucination will be absolutely vital!

[onthecushions]

When one is paid by the word....

OTC

But they aren't, are they? TWA and planning inspector are salaried, and writing reports is a chore. Even lawyers, who used sometimes to invoice by the letter written, really charge for their time, however spent.
 

If they are paid for their time then to demonstrate this they must produce words - my point. Writing reports is a better job than digging holes in the wind and rain.

They could be paid for prolixity or brevity but in their defence, I would say that they have to produce reports that comply with detailed Acts and do not provoke judicial review. This time that were quite right, whatever the Daily Telegraph grumbled.

Your AI point is very good - just how subjective judgements could be codified and the physical checks on statements made could be included - the human interaction, leaves me questioning....

OTC

[ellendune]

Absolutely correct Stuving. The move to everyone doing their own typing has slowed things considerably,  even though the younger generation are taught to type much quicker than I ever could.

Really,  I remember the days when the person who really ran the organisation was the head of the typing pool!  Upset her (it always was) and you could wait days and days for your letter.  Require a change to page 2 of your 12 page report and you really were in trouble (only protection was to say that the Chief Engineer requested it). 

I never learnt to touch type but I have been typing my own reports for over 30 years now and I can certainly type as fast as I can compose the sentence.