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Google restructured its AI teams following Timnit Gebru’s dismissal, sparking new anger from the researcher and her supporters.
The ethical AI teams will now be overseen by Marian Croak, a Black Google executive who is credited with inventing the Voice over Internet Protocol.
Google announced his appointment in a blog post:
Now she is embarking on a new project: to ensure that Google develops artificial intelligence responsibly and has a positive impact. To do this, Marian has created and will lead a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research.
Sources told Bloomberg that Croak would report to Google AI chief Jeff Dean, whose involvement in Gebru’s departure has been criticized by members of his team.
Her exit followed an argument over a research article she co-wrote. Dean insisted that Gebru had resigned, but for all intents and purposes she was fired.
The reorganization of Google’s AI teams aims to quell the fallout caused by his dismissal – but it has already sparked new outrage.
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Gebru tweeted that Google was “trying to neutralize a black woman with another ”while“ harassing, terrorizing and putting gas on my team ”.
I will have a lot more to say on this later. But announcing a new organization by a black woman like we are all interchangeable while harassing, terrorizing and turning on my team and doing absolutely ZERO to recognize and fix the damage that has been done is beyond gas lighting . https://t.co/cMtHqCte4e
– Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 18, 2021
Tech workers, diversity groups, and former colleagues have also criticized the decision.
Among the supporters of Gebru is the former diversity recruiter Abril Christina Curley, who said she was fired from the cabinet because “they were tired of hearing me denounce them on their racist bullshit.”
Abil tweeted that Google “wants nothing more than to exhaust us physically and exhaust us to the point of breaking us.”
Margaret Mitchell, who founded Google’s Ethical AI team – and is currently locked out of her corporate account to download Gebru-related material – said she discovered the reorganization thanks to the Bloomberg report.
… And that’s how I find out. I’m so happy with all the confidence they’ve rebuilt. It looks like I have been completely wiped out and my team has been taken https://t.co/1BTGOo5Wry
– MMitchell (@mmitchell_ai) February 18, 2021
Google may be hoping the restructuring dampens internal dissent, but that has only exacerbated the outrage among Gebru supporters.
Published February 18, 2021 – 21:43 UTC
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