Google’s ethical AI team sent Google executives a list of demands to “rebuild trust” following the removal of its acclaimed and recognized researcher Timnit Gebru.
Google’s intellectual AI team, which provides advice on research, products and policies, wrote a six-page letter to the company’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, to AI chief Jeff Dean , and Vice President of Engineering Megan Kacholia. The letter, entitled “The Future of Ethical AI in Google Research” and viewed by CNBC, picks up on the demands of executives, including Kacholia’s removal from the group’s reporting structure, abstention from retaliation and reinstatement of Gebru to a higher level.
“Over the past two weeks, we have heard from Google leaders that they are committed to continuing the important work of diversity, equity and inclusion within Research PA and to supporting the ethical AI team,” the letter states. “But we must remember that words that do not combine with action are a sign of virtue; they are harmful, evasive, defensive, and demonstrate the inability of leadership to understand how our organization is part of the problem.”
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter.
Employee correspondence represents a mistrust in leadership two weeks after Gebru, a well-known artificial intelligence researcher and technical co-director of Google’s ethical AI team, he tweeted that Google fired her for a disagreement over a research paper examining the bias in artificial intelligence. Gebru, who had been outspoken about the company’s treatment of black employees, said the treatment indicated a broader pattern to Google and supported the entire industry, including a petition signed by thousands of employees and colleagues. of the Google industry.
Last week, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent emails to employees apologizing for the stubborn mistrust of the company and the industry amid Gebru’s departure, while pledging that the company would launch a “ review “of what failed.
Earlier Wednesday, several members of the Democratic Congress, including Mrs. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, sent a letter to Pichai, asking for details of his “review” of Gebru’s dismissals, as well as Google’s efforts to mitigate discriminatory bias in large-scale language models, which Jeff Dean initially claimed was a reason to reject the Gebru document. Gebru’s team. “The universe of elite researchers in AI is limited in size and Google’s policies on employee publishing have the potential to substantially shape academic and public discourse on AI,” the congressional letter says.
“Google’s short decision to fire and retaliate against a core member of the ethical AI team makes it clear that we need rapid structural changes if we want to continue this work and if the legitimacy of the field in general persists,” reads in the Google AI Ethics Team letter.
The letter from employees continues to call for the withdrawal of Kacholia, which the team claims notified Gebru of its withdrawal without notifying Gebru’s direct manager. “We have lost confidence in Megan Kacholia and we ask that she be removed from our reporting chain,” the letter states. “Samy Bengio, former Timnit manager, should report directly to Jeff Dean.”
The group is asking Jeff Dean and Kacholia to apologize to Gebru and take responsibility, saying his dismissal has caused harm to Gebru and Google’s black community. “We see the removal of Megan from our management chain as a must.”
He also asks for details of Gebru’s dismissals. “Without understanding each leader’s process and degree of participation, it is impossible to move forward with the necessary structural changes to ensure that this harmful behavior does not occur again,” the letter states.
He also calls for employees who have defended Gebru not to be punished for “retaliation”.
“We know from past Google retaliation that they often proceed to hurt and marginalize workers without firing them directly,” employees say. “Instead, the company evaluates them in future performance review cycles, shifts their daily load to something less desirable, and places other direct and indirect limits on professional growth.”
Employees also call for “explicit commitments to investigate damage to specific technologies, including those that potentially relate to Google’s interests, products, and research areas,” the letter states, requesting a deadline by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
Employees also called for the reinstatement of Gebru and a higher level.
“The removal of Timnit has had a demoralizing effect on our entire team,” the letter states. “She (Gebru) and Meg Mitchell had cultivated a diverse and productive team that thrived in a psychologically safe environment. Offering Timnit her position at a higher level would help restore confidence and rebuild our team environment.”
See now: A renowned AI researcher says that Google abruptly fired her, causing criticism across the industry