Timnit Gebru’s Departure from Google Sparks Controversy Over Ethical AI Concerns
Ethics & Society, Google
Google Fires Ethical AI Researcher Timnit Gebru After Critical Email
A prominent advocate for ethical AI practices has been dismissed by Google after raising concerns regarding the company’s conduct. Timnit Gebru, known as a trailblazer in ethical AI research, highlighted the potential risks and biases associated with large language models.
Gebru asserts her termination stemmed from her unpublished paper and an email criticizing Google’s policies. This paper questions the implications of using large models, who benefits from them, and their potential to perpetuate biases. Her concerns have been echoed in recent events, such as MIT’s decision to retract a dataset called “80 Million Tiny Images.” This dataset, while popular for AI training, contained images labeled with offensive terms. MIT later stated the labels were unintended outcomes of an automated data collection process.
In a communication sent to the Google Brain Women and Allies listserv, Gebru voiced her disappointment over Google’s slow progress in hiring diverse talent. She has also claimed that she was discouraged from publishing certain research and told that filling out diversity-related paperwork was futile.
Contrary to Gebru’s account, her manager reportedly informed colleagues that she had resigned, a claim Gebru refutes. She stated, “I hadn’t resigned—I had asked for simple conditions first and said I would respond when I’m back from vacation.” This miscommunication has raised further questions surrounding her dismissal.
Jeff Dean, Head of Google Research, responded to the situation by discussing the paper’s approval process. He explained that although Gebru and her colleagues had previously published numerous papers, this particular one was submitted without adhering to the required two-week internal review period. Following a subsequent review, it was deemed inadequate for publication due to its oversight of relevant research and claims regarding bias.
The exchanges between Gebru and Google illustrate a stark conflict regarding expectations and outcomes, especially under the scrutiny of a company already facing challenges regarding its ethical standards. The public perception of firing an ethics researcher over these disputes may hinder Google’s reputation.
(Image Credit: Timnit Gebru by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch under CC BY 2.0 license)
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