Computer Says No

A pattern in which an organisation invokes an algorithmic or automated decision as justification for an adverse outcome — a rejected application, a denied claim, an adjusted score — thereby deflecting responsibility from human decision-makers onto the technical system. Originally popularised as satire, the term is now used in algorithmic accountability research to describe how automated employment-decision systems dissolve organisational accountability and leave candidates (including disabled applicants) with no clear avenue to understand, appeal, or contest the decision.