The Ethics of the Tools We Build · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Who is affected by a tool?

Personal & Social Development · Ethics & Philosophy · ages 16-18
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. A housing filter mistakenly rejects an eligible applicant for a vacant flat. Who directly loses this rental opportunity?

    • The applicant whose rental opportunity the rejection blocks
    • The programmer who wrote the filter
    • The landlord whose chance to rent this flat has been permanently removed

  2. A hiring filter favours men and was trained on past hires. Which conclusion is best supported?

    • Past hires prove that the selected men are better qualified
    • The pattern proves intentional discrimination in every decision
    • Past discrimination may shape the results; test that possible explanation

  3. The score required to pass a hiring filter is a design choice that can affect who gets an opportunity.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A duty-based critic rejects a triage tool because it violates fair treatment. What grounds this objection?

    • A duty to provide fair treatment limits which tools may be used
    • A duty to refuse medical triage
    • A duty to accept every unequal outcome once the patients have agreed to it

  5. A triage tool saves more lives overall but misses urgent cases in one group more often. What should a consequentialist compare?

    • Only extra lives saved, excluding harms and longer-term effects
    • Expected benefits and harms for everyone affected
    • Only whether the designers intended to produce a good result

  6. A filter only checks eligibility: it should pass everyone who qualifies. In a test, it rejects 8 of 100 eligible applicants in group A and 18 of 100 in group B. Which response addresses these errors before launch?

    • Publish only the overall score and continue with launch
    • Assume the group gap establishes deliberate harm in every case
    • Investigate the group gap and give applicants a way to challenge decisions

  7. A tool may harm future people and other species. Someone says, 'They cannot join our discussion, so their interests must matter less.' Which response best examines this inference?

    • Difficulty representing interests does not prove they matter less
    • Being unable to speak proves that no harm to them can have moral importance
    • Being absent proves that every prediction about future harm must be certain

  8. In a thought experiment, trial A uses drivers without their agreement; trial B obtains informed consent. A has greater expected net welfare after all effects are counted. Only these trials are available. Which choices follow a greatest-net-welfare rule and a rule requiring informed consent?

    • Welfare rule chooses B; consent rule chooses B.
    • Welfare rule chooses A; consent rule chooses B.
    • Welfare rule chooses A; consent rule chooses A.
    • Welfare rule chooses B; consent rule chooses A.
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Who is affected by a tool? W1-mt_eZh-vIoluR-s1

  1. The applicant whose rental opportunity the rejection blocks · The rejection blocks the applicant's opportunity to rent this flat. Other people may face costs too, but this does not describe eviction from an existing home.
  2. Past discrimination may shape the results; test that possible explanation · Earlier hiring decisions may contain discrimination that the filter repeats. The pattern calls for investigation, not certainty about every applicant or decision.
  3. True · The passing score is part of the decision rule. Changing it can change which applicants pass, even if their individual scores stay the same.
  4. A duty to provide fair treatment limits which tools may be used · This critic appeals to a duty of fair treatment. The objection neither prohibits all triage nor says that consent excuses every harm.
  5. Expected benefits and harms for everyone affected · Consequentialism evaluates consequences. Missed urgent cases, trust and future effects belong in the comparison alongside lives saved.
  6. Investigate the group gap and give applicants a way to challenge decisions · These rejections are errors because the filter should pass every eligible applicant. Equal group sizes make the counts comparable. Investigate the gap and allow challenges without assuming deliberate harm.
  7. Difficulty representing interests does not prove they matter less · Participation and moral importance are different questions. Absence creates a representation problem; it does not by itself establish weaker duties or certainty about future effects.
  8. Welfare rule chooses A; consent rule chooses B. · The welfare rule chooses A because its expected net welfare is greater. The consent rule excludes A and chooses B. The verdicts differ under these specified rules; this is not a claim about every ethical theory.
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