Google says it plans to double the size of its team studying AI ethics in the coming years, as it looks to strengthen the group battered by recent controversies
Tripp Mickle / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @_jack_poulson , @alexhanna , @carissaveliz , @zeerakw , @hughhewitt , @taliaringer , @timnitgebru , @_alialkhatib , @edroso , @zoeschiffer , @parismarx , @mer__edith , and @lizthegrey Tweets: Jack Poulson / @_jack_poulson : At least Google is being honest that their “AI Ethics” work is driven by PR concerns: “Being responsible in the way that you develop and deploy AI technology is fundamental to the good of the business...It severely damages the brand if things aren't done in an ethical way.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dr. Alex Hanna / @alexhanna : uh this is news to me https://twitter.com/... Carissa Vliz / @carissaveliz : Great, but is #Google going to hire critical people? Or do they just want people who will be sure to cheer them on? #Ethics is often uncomfortable. It asks questions and sets limits. Corporate attitudes are often not open to that. #AIEthics https://www.wsj.com/... Zeerak Waseem / @zeerakw : They say this like they'll be able hire anyone in the space... https://twitter.com/... Hugh Hewitt / @hughhewitt : As w/ Facebook's “supreme court,” this play by Google will not win public confidence. Too high a wall to scale on credibility given past record. The state AGs have to press on to bring Big Tech under scrutiny similar to that of regulated utilities. https://www.wsj.com/... Talia Ringer / @taliaringer : Hiring people to fill those roles might be pretty hard without repairing the damage done to those harmed last time around though https://www.wsj.com/... Timnit Gebru / @timnitgebru : Push out ppl like @mmitchell_ai who started this at google, do whatever they did to us and our team and pledge to “double AI ethics staff.” Translation: push out people doing real work on this & do ethics washing + propaganda cause regulation is coming. https://www.wsj.com/... Ali Alkhatib / @_alialkhatib : as i said in december, without a believable commitment to shield researchers from the corporate pressure that got @timnitGebru & @mmitchell_ai fired, i've struggled and don't know if there's any way to take google-affiliated research seriously, particularly going forward. https://twitter.com/... Roy Edroso / @edroso : A clear sign that the PR component is the important, and perhaps only, feature of the “expansion.” https://twitter.com/... Zo Schiffer / @zoeschiffer : Google apparently did not communicate plans of its *massive expansion of the ethical AI team to people on the ethical AI team* https://twitter.com/... Paris Marx / @parismarx : who is still taking these jobs?! https://www.wsj.com/... Meredith Whittaker / @mer__edith : I guess they're running out of people to scapegoat, gaslight, and fire? https://www.wsj.com/... Liz Fong-Jones / @lizthegrey : good luck hiring lmao https://twitter.com/...