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Date	November 2018	Marks available	12	Reference code	18N.1.HL.TZ0.5
Level	HL	Paper	1	Time zone	no time zone
Command term	Discuss	Question number	5	Adapted from	N/A

Question

App or intuition?

Apps have been developed that allow a customer to submit a trip request to a taxi company on their smartphone. These apps allow the customer to select the starting point and final destination of the journey as well as add other information, such as the time of journey and number of passengers.

The developers of the taxi journey app claim it can capture the real-time details of a journey, including the starting point, route, distance travelled, the speed of the car and the final destination. The app integrates this information with real-time traffic information, such as closed roads or accidents. Fares can be estimated before the journey, and the customer can pay digitally with their credit card or by PayPal.

Some traditional taxi drivers in cities such as Paris and Rio de Janeiro have campaigned against the introduction of these apps in taxi companies. Based on previous journeys recorded by the app, the taxi company recommends that their taxi drivers rely on the taxi journey app rather than their own knowledge of the city when determining the best route.

Discuss whether the taxi driver should rely on the taxi journey app, rather than their own knowledge of the city, when determining the best route.

Markscheme

Answers may include:

Rely on the taxi journey app (claim)

It will speed up the process of drivers being able to learn the routes (automation), meaning they are able to provide a better service to customers more quickly.
The app will give consistency in the routes used, so the passengers should be confident that the route being selected is the most appropriate (trust, transparency).
If the decisions of the route in the app are collected, the results may be analysed and the reliability evaluated/increased. It may make it possible to monitor the drivers more closely.
The app may be updated in real time, so the driver may not need to check on changes such as roads being closed or reopening (change).
The app may result in shorter distances being travelled and cost savings for the taxi company (cost).
The driver may not have sufficient knowledge of these areas to be able to determine an effective route.

Rely on driver’s knowledge and intuition (counter-claim)

They may use their professional judgement / intuition that has been gained by doing the job for a number of years.
The system may not be able to determine certain routes, such as those that go outside of the central part of the city. This may mean the usability / effectiveness / reliability of the app is reduced.
There may be new requirements that have not been incorporated into the system (change) that may mean it is not providing the most up-to-date information (cost).
The route-finding algorithms that exist within the digital system may have inherent/subconscious biases (power, values, ethics). For example, they may route the driver past certain locations, or avoid others.
There may be parts of the city where the connection cannot be maintained, such as where there are very tall buildings surrounding the road. This may lead to the app not performing as expected (reliability, feasibility).
The taxi driver may feel that they are being surveilled (power, values, ethics).
Would the installation of the app be a requirement for the job (systems, ethics, values)?

In this question it is expected there will be a balance between the terminology related to digital systems and the terminology related to social and ethical impacts.

Keywords: change, power, systems, values, ethics, apps, security, privacy, algorithms, transparency, reliability, surveillance, cost, feasibility

Refer to HL paper 1 Section B markbands when awarding marks. These can be found under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials > Digital society markbands and guidance document.