The question, however, is whether we've eliminated human bias or simply camouflaged it with technology.

Nevertheless, many of these models encoded human prejudice, misunderstanding, and bias into the software systems that increasingly managed our lives.

In each case, we must ask not only who designed the model but also what they person or company is trying to accomplish.

WMDs, by contrast, tend to favor efficiency. By their very nature, they feed on data that can be measured and counted. But fairness is squishy and hard to quantify. It is a concept. And computers, for all of their advances in language and logic, still struggle mightily with concepts.