Reconstructing pixelated white faces is a lame research goal. If they think it would work on all faces, make them show that: it's science and it's their job to demonstrate that their approach works. Why bring "larger problems" into this when the problem is a "small problem", they built a system and it doesn't quite work but they published it anyway.
By the way, ML is not nearly as new as you seem to think, and given the amount of resources poured into it by FAANG-type companies recently, even five years is a lot of time for ML nowadays.
> Reconstructing pixelated white faces is a lame research goal
I'm sorry but you can't know this. Maybe it was the real objective, or a first step for something bigger, or a drunk Saturday night project.
In any case is research, and is very valid. Unless you are the chief at their lab, I think you don't get to tell what to do or not to do and/or the scope of their job. Anything else is a conjecture.
> By the way, ML is not nearly as new as you seem to think
Well, the results are there, together with the polemic it generates TODAY about white and black faces. Tell me if ML and its adoption, generally accepted or not, is mature yet.
By the way, ML is not nearly as new as you seem to think, and given the amount of resources poured into it by FAANG-type companies recently, even five years is a lot of time for ML nowadays.