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Google announced last week the formation of a global council on technology ethics, with well-deserved concern. While the company had gathered highly qualified people to sit on the board – but Google's record of adhering to its own internal codes of ethics is far from perfect.
The appointment of Kay Coles James to the External Advisory Council on Advanced Technology, former lackey of the George W. Bush administration and current chair of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, was the most outrageous. It is under fire from critics, in the press, and now by the Googlers themselves, for widely held opinions. to be transphobic.
"By selecting James, Google clearly indicates that his version of" ethics "values proximity to the power and well-being of transgender people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants," wrote today in a open letter the daily. "Such a position directly contravenes the declared values of Google […] By naming James to ATEAC, Google elevates and endorses his views, implying that his is a valuable perspective that deserves to be included in his decision-making process. This is unacceptable. The undersigned of the letter request his immediate dismissal from the board of directors.
Kent Walker, Google's vice president of global affairs, announced the creation of ATEAC at the EmTech Digital conference last week. He has already spoken to the Heritage Foundation about increasing cross-border surveillance.
One of the other eight members of ATEAC, Alessandro Acquisti, professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Melon, has already announced his resignation from the board of directors. via Twitter. It is unclear whether his decision was influenced by James's backlash.
Google's recent incursions into an artificial intelligence program for Pentagon UAVs and a censored Chinese search engine make this latest faux pas even more predictable: Google has grown so much that its only option for continued expansion seems to include because of its fundamental values. Flirting with entrenched political and military power has, in most recent cases, been thwarted by company employees, often in the form of similar open letters.
In the case of the Maven project, the Pentagon's aforementioned program, as well as arbitration agreements previously defined in employee contracts, the backlash of the workers generated tangible results.
Google was not immediately available to comment on his decision to appoint James.
The letter is reproduced below in its entirety:
Google must remove Kay Cole James from its External Advisory Board on Advanced Technologies (ATEAC).
On March 27, four days before the Trans Visibility Day, Google announced the members of its Advanced Technology Advisory Board (ATEAC), which is responsible for informing the company's decisions regarding AI and other technologies. Kay Coles James, president of the Heritage Foundation, is anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant.
His file speaks for itself –more than, And more, andmore thanAgain.
In selecting James, Google clearly indicates that his version of "ethics" values the proximity of power to the detriment of the well-being of transgender people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants. Such a position directly contravenes the declared values of Google. A lotto haveIt has been publicly emphasized, and a professor appointed to ATEAC has alreadyresignedAs a result of the controversy.
Following the announcement, the person who had the credit of appointing James agreed with the decision, stating that he sat on the board to ensure "diversity of thought." It is a militarization of the language of diversity. By naming James to ATEAC, Google elevates and endorses his views, implying that his is a valuable perspective that deserves to be included in his decision-making process. This is unacceptable.
James's appointment to ATEAC also significantly undermines Google's position on the ethics and fairness of AI. The potential harmful effects of AI are not evenly distributed and follow historical patterns of discrimination and exclusion. AI that does not recognize trans people, does not hear more female voices and does not "see" women of color, at AI used to improve police surveillance, profile the immigrants and automate arms – those who are most marginalized are the most exposed. James's views run counter to Google's stated values, but they go directly against the goal of making the development and application of AI a priority for justice and not benefit. Such a project should instead place representatives of vulnerable communities at the center of the decision-making process.
Google can not claim to support trans people and their trans employees – a population facing real and material threats – and at the same time designate someone who is committed to the transitional transition to an AI consulting position. Given that,we call Google to remove Kay Coles James from ATEAC.
Sign,
# 16 Googlers *
Academic and civil society support:
Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League
Dan Chiasson, English teacher at Wellesley College
Catia Cecilia Confortini, Associate Professor, Peace and Justice Studies Program, Wellesley College
Sasha Costanza-Chock, Associate Professor of Civic Media, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Molly Crabapple, author and artist
Kate Crawford, co-founder and co-director of the AI Now Institute at NYU
Stephanie DeGooyer, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, Harvard University
Cory Doctorow, author and activist
Lisa Duggan, Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, University of New York
Liz Fong-Jones, co-founder of Trans @ Google and former Googler, board member of the National Center for Transgender Equality
Anna Geiduschek, software engineer, Dropbox
Emerson Goldstein, Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice
Evan Greer, fight for the future
Mar Hicks, Associate Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
Raymond Horton, Professor Frank Lautenberg in Ethics and Corporate Governance at Columbia Business School
Leah Hunt-Hendrix, co-founder, Way to Win
Os Keyes, University of Washington
Naomi Klein, Gloria Steinem, Chair of Research on Media, Culture and Feminists, Rutgers University
Lida Maxwell, Associate Professor of Political Science and Studies on Women, Gender and Sexuality, Boston University
Judith A. Miller, Associate Professor, Department of History, Emory University
Ciamac Moallemi, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University
Eni Mustafaraj, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Wellesley College
Safiya Umoja Noble, Associate Professor, Departments of Information Science and African American Studies, UCLA
Liz O'Sullivan, formerly Clarifai, conscientious objector
Jack Poulson, founder of Tech Inquiry
Aziz Rana, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Cory Robin, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
Andrew Ross, New York University
Niloufar Salehi, Assistant Professor, School of Information, UC Berkeley
Rafael Shimunov, activist of immigration
Danielle Skysdottir, Amazonian, Software Engineer and Board Member of Glamazon Affinity Groups and Amazon Women in Engineering
Rebecca Solnit, writer
Astra Taylor, writer and co-founder of the collective debt
Elena R. Vera, Executive Director, Trans Lifeline
McKenzie Wark, Professor of Media and Culture, The New School
Moira Weigel, Harvard University
Liz Wendell, Rural Advancement International – United States
Meredith Whittaker, Co-Founder and Co-Director, AI Now Institute NYUTo add your name to the list of supporters:
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