[Quadratic]

Originally Posted by jwai

The system did not seem to differentiate its response in regard that particular victim, who was freaked out not only from the trauma inflicted on her, but from having a gun pointed at her, and seeing what that weapon was capable of doing. Threatening to use that lighter was treated by the system as a hostile action, despite it being inspired more out of fear for one's life than actual malice. It was only because Akane intervened that we didn't see another fleshy explosion, given Kogami was quite prepared to pull the trigger otherwise.

Of course it doesn't differentiate. Blame the police placing priority over personal safety over the circumstances of the crime taking place.
It was Akane's first intervention that lead to the situation. If Masaoka had gotten his shot first, the whole ordeal would've ended 5 minutes earlier and the victim would have gotten her treatment anyway. Akane questioned the whole situation because of the whole 'what you learn in school doesn't apply in real life'/'theory vs practical' culture shock.
Admitedly the Dominator makes a gruesome mess, so it would be better for her to be knocked out immediately before she truly comprehends that she's covered in blood and guts.

Originally Posted by jwai

So pointing a gun at someone and completely trusting whatever black-box calculations it makes are sound is actual evidence, especially when pointing a lethal weapon at someone is likely to get their nerves up anyway? Not an auditor, are you?

Unquestioning reliance on a system to make decisions for you on the assumption that it must be infallible is dangerous, given that an AI is generally only as good as the inputs, assumptions, processes and methodology built into it. I would be surprised if the series later does not later explore whether the SIBYL System is indeed as accurate as the majority of society makes it out to be.

If a police officer arrested you on the basis that his gun reckoned that you were guilty, I don't think it would be a far stretch to guess that you would be wanting some sort of judicial review into how exactly that decision was reached. Unfortunately, no such avenue for procedural fairness exists in the PP universe when snap judgments usually result in the death of the person concerned.

If you're talking about the paralysis mode, that's up to the treatment centre to decide. They're not psychiatrists.
If you're talking about the lethal mode, the rapist's hostage situation justified it, the rape victim's pool of petrol justified it (regardless of how it got there), the robots justified it.
As it stands, the Dominator's first call were justified, the only real counterargument is Mido, because he was unarmed (pun unintended), but his house was rigged (pre-meditated), and he did kill three people so that really depends on you whether you consider it justified or not.

Considering they still rely on humans to make the final call, I believe it was their experience that lead them to believe the system is working, not believe for the sake of it, which is hinted with Ginoza.
It's speculation on my part, but I don't see it as society dumping a machine in just for the sake of it, it would have been tested to the point were it could be considered fairly reliable.
If the entire police work was done by autonomous robots, then you'd be justified in saying they're unquestioning the system.

Originally Posted by Ridwan

The crumble of this grotesquely arbitrary Sybil system will surely grant me a heft of Schadenfreude, and frankly I'm more interested in that then diving into the Sybil System itself.

I don't believe there is anything "arbitrary" with Sibyl at all. The fact it's implied they had some scientific basis (at least in their world) that the number crunching has been fairly correct makes it not surprising such a system was implemented.
I'm betting one internet cookie that they won't destroy Sibyl, and if there is a "good" scenario, then the most that would happen is a change in culture to rely more on themselves but it'll still be used.

Blindspots in the system doesn't justify removing the system completely, and society seems to have no qualms with fringe cases like the rapist.