Recent history continually shows that advances in military technology causes improvements in combatant/non-combatant casualty ratio. The smarter the bombs and missiles are, the less civilians they kill. Also, operators who only risk drones and not their own lives aren't nearly as trigger happy as pilots. And finally, a conflict between two countries is always more prolonged and bloody when the gap between their technological development and military prowess is smaller. Not to mention that MAD doctrine have prevented cold war from going hot.
So yes, working on all these technologies helps you mention helps humanity and saves lives.
Mostly because there are way more programmers working on weaponry of every possible kind than oppressing minorities, and you could say it causes way more harm and suffering.
Also, unlike doctors, who are explicitly trusted with human health, programmers are not in any way different from anybody else and it's silly to try to impose a special moral code on them.
Fewer people die in wars today than at any point in the 20th century. As a trend, people dying from war related causes has been on a seriously downward trend.
There's an argument to be made that modern weapons help keep the peace, exactly like MAD did between the USSR and USA.
None of that has to do with your original comment ("Nuclear weapons simulations, drone AI, smart bombs - all good. But don't you dare abuse a marginalized group!") and what I objected to in it.
They said "Nuclear weapons simulations, drone AI, smart bombs - all good. But don't you dare abuse a marginalized group!" which is specially saying that people don't care about these matters for the first set of issues (which is an assumption about the person they were replying to, and an incorrect blanket statement about people in general) and also specifically implying that the only reason people cared in this case was because it involves a marginalised group (which is also an assumption that they didn't attempt to back up with evidence).
Recent history continually shows that advances in military technology causes improvements in combatant/non-combatant casualty ratio. The smarter the bombs and missiles are, the less civilians they kill. Also, operators who only risk drones and not their own lives aren't nearly as trigger happy as pilots. And finally, a conflict between two countries is always more prolonged and bloody when the gap between their technological development and military prowess is smaller. Not to mention that MAD doctrine have prevented cold war from going hot.
So yes, working on all these technologies helps you mention helps humanity and saves lives.