2002: I buy a prepaid SIM card, giving my name as “Greg Egan” on the account application. Asked for ID, I show my passport, which gives my first name as “Gregory” and includes my middle name.
Human checking this (who, being a human, understands how humans use their informal and full legal names): Everything is fine, enjoy your new mobile phone!
2026: Telco’s automated message to me: We must verify your identity. Please supply the details of a suitable ID document.
Me: Supplies the details on my passport.
Verification algorithm: Details do not match your account.
So I am now looking forward to hours of time wasted on getting through to a human in the telco who knows exactly the right solution to this “problem”.
And I know that people with non-Anglophone names face this kind of needless idiocy a hundred times more often.
Automating paperwork and bureaucracy is great, but 3 decades into the process, why are we still so crap at handling even the simplest, most obvious pitfalls?
[LLMs won’t fix this, they’ll just change the failure modes.]
Greg Egan
npub1qq…j5nhv
2026-08-12 11:27:18 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1qqm7nu2qf25xd3mw6y6cyp4v2wr7ktf43ymp5wqz4u8jvz76ymtsjj5nhvSeen on
wss://relay.ditto.pubPublished at
2026-08-12 11:27:18 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "2002: I buy a prepaid SIM card, giving my name as “Greg Egan” on the account application. Asked for ID, I show my passport, which gives my first name as “Gregory” and includes my middle name.\n\nHuman checking this (who, being a human, understands how humans use their informal and full legal names): Everything is fine, enjoy your new mobile phone!\n\n2026: Telco’s automated message to me: We must verify your identity. Please supply the details of a suitable ID document.\n\nMe: Supplies the details on my passport.\n\nVerification algorithm: Details do not match your account.\n\nSo I am now looking forward to hours of time wasted on getting through to a human in the telco who knows exactly the right solution to this “problem”.\n\nAnd I know that people with non-Anglophone names face this kind of needless idiocy a hundred times more often.\n\nAutomating paperwork and bureaucracy is great, but 3 decades into the process, why are we still so crap at handling even the simplest, most obvious pitfalls?\n\n[LLMs won’t fix this, they’ll just change the failure modes.]",
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