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So improve the software and fix the bugs? How is this a valid response?

I think the point is it shows systemic bias, which may be very difficult to "debug".

It is important to apply ethics when developing technology, as rationality alone is not sufficient.

I dont see why it should be difficult to debug unless you think this is all some kind of conspiratorial plot by white people or the "white system" who are all secretely racist against black people and that's why the detection rate was purposefully kept low by these evil people. And implying that we have to be irrational to be ethical is also pretty weird.

It's not a "conspiratorial plot", no. But time and again, research has shown that the implicit biases held by the people building these tools [0] are observable in the tool's results — and all people hold implicit biases.

It's not the tool we need to debug; it's us.

[0] Where, by "these tools", I mean machine learning writ large.

EDIT: I highly doubt your comment's parent was suggesting we had to be irrational in order to be ethical. Rather, I believe they meant we should be rational and ethical. Wouldn't you agree?

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