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Hundreds of Google employees and more than 1,000 university researchers have spoken out in protest after a prominent black scientist studying the ethics of artificial intelligence said he was fired by Google after the company tried to suppress her research and criticize her diversity efforts.
Timnit Gebru, technical co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI team, wrote on Twitter Wednesday that she was fired after sending an email to an internal group of women and allies working in the company’s artificial intelligence unit.
The email, which was first published by technology newsletter Platformer, referred to a dispute over a research paper, but more broadly expressed frustration with Google’s diversity agendas. In it, Gebru argued that “there is no accountability” or a real incentive for Google’s leadership to change. “Your life gets worse when you start advocating for the underrepresented, you start to upset other leaders,” Gebru wrote. “There is no way more documents or more conversations will end in anything.”
Gebru is one of the best known and respected black female scientists working in the field of AI. Before joining Google, she co-authored a widely cited 2018 article that revealed higher error rates in facial scanning technology for women with darker skin. She also co-founded the non-profit organization Black in AI which aims to increase the representation of people of color in the field.
The dispute over Gebru’s searches arose in November, when a senior Google executive told Gebru she should either retract or remove her name from a post she co-wrote, Gebru said. at Wired. The article, co-authored by researchers inside and outside Google, argued that tech companies could do more to ensure that AI systems aimed at mimicking writing and speaking human rights do not exacerbate historical gender biases and the use of offensive language, according to a draft copy seen by Reuters.
“I felt like we were being censored and I thought that had implications for all ethical AI research,” she told Wired. “You’re not going to have papers that make the company happy all the time and that don’t point out issues. This is contrary to what it means to be that kind of researcher.
Gebru told Wired that she tried to negotiate with Google, offering to remove her name from the newspaper in return for a full explanation of the company’s objections, as well as a discussion of a better process to deal with these. questions in the future. If the company refused, it would arrange to leave at a later date.
Google rejected her request and – after Gebru sent the frustrated email over diversity efforts – the company emailed its team to tell them it had accepted his resignation. They also cut off his access to company emails, Gebru said. Google claimed that Gebru had resigned.
Gebru’s abrupt departure sent shockwaves through Google and the wider AI research community. Sherrilyn Ifill, chair of the NAACP Defense and Education Legal Fund, wrote on Twitter that Gebru’s dismissal was “absolutely exasperating” and “a disaster.” Almost 800 Google employees and more than 1,100 supporters from academia and civil society signed a letter of protest.
“The termination is an act of retaliation against Dr Gebru, and it signals danger to those working for ethical and fair AI – especially blacks and people of color – on Google,” the letter read, published by the group that organized a strike at Google over the company’s treatment of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
“Search integrity can no longer be taken for granted in Google’s enterprise search environment, and Dr. Gebru’s dismissal has overturned a working understanding of the type of search Google will allow. It is also a moment of calculation beyond Google. “
Gebru’s abrupt departure comes on top of years of angst, including several resignations and layoffs, in the AI department and other Google organizations because of diversity and whether the efforts of the company to minimize the potential damage of its services are sufficient.
Just on Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint accusing Google of illegally monitoring and questioning several workers who were later fired for protesting company policies and trying to organize a union.
Jeff Dean, head of Google’s AI unit, told staff in an email obtained by Platformer that the research paper “did not meet our publication bar.” Dean, who is white and male, also addressed Gebru’s email to the Women and Allies group, writing: “I also feel bad that hundreds of you received an email this week from Timnit asking for you. to stop working on critical DCI programs. Please do not do this.
Google did not respond to a request for comment.
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