AI Associate Ethical Considerations of AI Practice Question
This AI Associate practice question tests your understanding of ethical considerations of ai. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An AI system is used to approve loan applications. The model uses income, zip code, and credit score as features. What is a potential ethical concern?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Zip code may act as a proxy for race, leading to discrimination
Option A is correct because using zip code as a feature can introduce proxy discrimination. Zip codes are strongly correlated with race and socioeconomic status due to historical redlining and residential segregation. When the model learns patterns from zip code, it may inadvertently deny loans to applicants from certain racial or ethnic groups, violating fair lending laws and ethical AI principles.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Zip code may act as a proxy for race, leading to discrimination
Why this is correct
Using zip code can indirectly discriminate based on race or ethnicity.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The model should be a black box to avoid bias
Why it's wrong here
Black-box models reduce accountability; transparency is needed.
✗
Credit scores are rarely accurate
Why it's wrong here
Credit scores are commonly used and generally accurate.
✗
Income is not a reliable predictor of repayment
Why it's wrong here
Income is a standard and legitimate factor in lending.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Salesforce often tests the misconception that bias is only introduced by explicitly using protected attributes, when in fact proxy features like zip code can cause discrimination even if race or gender is not directly used.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Proxy discrimination occurs when a model uses a feature that is highly correlated with a protected attribute (e.g., race, gender) even if the protected attribute itself is not included. For example, zip code can encode historical redlining patterns, leading to disparate impact. Under the hood, fairness metrics like demographic parity or equal opportunity can quantify this bias, and techniques like adversarial debiasing or reweighting are used to mitigate it. In real-world scenarios, such as the Apple Card controversy, algorithmic bias surfaced because models used features that indirectly discriminated against protected groups.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Ethical Considerations of AI — This question tests Ethical Considerations of AI — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Zip code may act as a proxy for race, leading to discrimination — Option A is correct because using zip code as a feature can introduce proxy discrimination. Zip codes are strongly correlated with race and socioeconomic status due to historical redlining and residential segregation. When the model learns patterns from zip code, it may inadvertently deny loans to applicants from certain racial or ethnic groups, violating fair lending laws and ethical AI principles.
What should I do if I get this AI Associate question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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