Design bias is harmful, and in some cases may be lethal
The world is designed around white men. They share it with everyone else
SOME THINGS, you might think, are obvious. For example, if you design a device which shines light through someone’s fingertip to measure the oxygen level of their blood, then the colour of the skin through which that light is shining should be a factor when the device is calibrated.
But no. Research suggests that, with honourable exceptions, pulse oximeters, the machines which do this, overestimate oxygen levels three times more frequently (12% of the time) in people with black skin rather than white. When this informs decisions on whom to admit to hospital during a pandemic, more black than white patients are sent home on the mistaken conclusion that their blood-oxygen levels are within a safe range. This could have fatal consequences.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Working in the dark"
From the April 10th 2021 edition
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