
ML algorithm quantifies gender bias in astronomy - kafkaesq
http://www.nature.com/news/machine-learning-algorithm-quantifies-gender-bias-in-astronomy-1.20932
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brighteyes
This may just be a poor summary of the paper, but it sounds very strange.
First, it uses "machine learning / an algorithm" to estimate the number of
citations. That suggests the system is to some extent a black box, which makes
it hard to take the results seriously. Alternatively, if it is not a black box
but is a detailed algorithm, then those details matter, but are not provided.

And the bigger question is - why is "machine learning / an algorithm" needed
here, what does it do that normal statistical analysis tools cannot? That is,
find the numbers, correct for various factors, calculate values, etc. Those
tools are well-understood, and seem to be sufficient to answer the question
proposed here, yet they weren't used, so there is a lot more to this story.

