Google AI researcher exit sparks ethics, prejudice

Leading artificial intelligence scholar Timnit Gebru has helped improve Google’s public image as a company that elevates black computer scientists and challenges harmful uses of AI technology.

But internally, Gebru, a leader in AI ethics, didn’t shy away from casting doubts about those commitments – until she was kicked out of the company this week in a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers of an emerging branch of AI.

Gebru announced on Twitter that she had been fired. Google told employees she had quit. More than 1,200 Google employees signed an open letter calling the incident “unprecedented search censorship” and accusing the company of racism and defense.

The fury over Gebru’s abrupt departure is the latest incident to raise questions as to whether Google has strayed so far from its original motto of “Don’t be bad” that the company now regularly ousts employees who dare to challenge management. The exit of Gebru, who is black, also raised new doubts about diversity and inclusion in a company where black women make up only 1.6% of the workforce.

And there are concerns beyond Google about whether the flashy efforts at ethical AI – ranging from a White House decree this week to the ethics review teams set up across the industry. technology – are of little use when their findings could threaten national profits or interests.

Gebru was a star in the world of AI ethics who spent his early days in technology working on Apple products and received his doctorate in computer vision from the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

She is the co-founder of the Black in AI group, which promotes black employment and leadership in the field. She is best known for a landmark 2018 study that revealed racial and gender bias in facial recognition software.

Gebru had recently worked on a paper examining the risks of developing computer systems that analyze huge databases of human language and use it to create their own human-like text. The document, a copy of which was shown to The Associated Press, mentions new technology from Google, used in its search activities, as well as those developed by others.

In addition to pointing out the potential dangers of bias, the paper also cited the environmental cost of consuming energy to run the models – a significant issue for a company that boasts of its commitment to being carbon neutral since 2007 then that it strives to become even greener.

Google officials were concerned about omissions in the job and its schedule, and wanted the names of Google employees removed from the study, but Gebru objected, according to a shared email exchange with the AP and first published by Platformer.

Jeff Dean, head of artificial intelligence research at Google, reiterated Google’s position on the study in a statement Friday.

The paper made some valid points, but “had significant flaws that kept us from feeling comfortable putting the affiliation on Google,” Dean wrote.

“For example, it didn’t include important findings on how to make models more efficient and actually reduce overall environmental impact, and it didn’t take into account some recent work from Google and elsewhere on the bias mitigation, Dean added.

Gebru on Tuesday expressed his frustrations with the process to an internal diversity and inclusion messaging group at Google, with the subject line: “Silencing marginalized voices in any way possible.” Gebru said on Twitter that it was the email that sent her back.

Dean, in an email to employees, said the company accepted “its decision to quit Google” because it told officials it would leave if its demands for the study were not met. .

“Ousting Timnit for having the audacity to demand search integrity seriously undermines Google’s credibility for supporting rigorous research on AI ethics and algorithmic auditing,” said Joy Buolamwini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate researcher, co-author of the 2018 facial recognition study with Gebru.

She deserves more than what Google has given away, and now she is an all-star free agent who will continue to transform the tech industry, Buolamwini said in an email Friday.

How Google will handle its AI ethics initiative and the internal dissent sparked by Gebru’s exit is one of the many issues the company faces as the New Year approaches.

Just as she was about to come out, the National Labor Relations Board cast another spotlight on Google’s workplace on Wednesday. In a complaint, the NRLB accused the company of spying on employees in a 2019 effort to organize a union before the company sacked two militant workers for engaging in activities permitted by law American. Google has denied the allegations in the case, which is scheduled for a hearing in April.

Google has also been branded a for-profit bully by the US Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit alleging the company was illegally abusing the power of its dominant search engine and other popular digital services to stifle publicity. competition. The company also denies any wrongdoing in this legal battle, which can go on for years.