Thread by @PaulDJohnston

I think this has wide implications for so many issues. Google and other orgs need external accountability not just on AI, but on big tech's impact on the world in general (1/X)

Exclusive: Google cancels AI ethics board in response to outcry vox.com/future-perfect… via @voxdotcom

Tech has a huge impact on society in so many different ways, and this was a misstep that looks very much like trying to appease political masters (Republicans) rather than "doing the right thing" (2/X)

It is important that orgs listen to their workers too. We are mostly not "unionised" (I dislike the word because of the associations) in tech so individuals have little chance to lobby an org for change, and so this shows it can be done (and has been done a few times now) (3/X)

Big tech companies and organisations have a wider responsibility that mostly is ignored because it is so abstracted from the consumer. AI is seen as needing some ethical position simply because of the *potential* impact, largely due to the public (mis)understanding of it. (4/X)

Tech has a huge responsibility in so many areas - #ClimateChange, Human Rights, Poverty, Equality, Democracy, War - that it is currently ignoring or seeking to distance itself from. Many in tech know the problems but see little being done by big tech to change this (5/X)

In the last year I've been asked to speak on ethics more and more by tech companies/people, and the impact of tech on #ClimateChange specifically, which is why the white paper was written bit.ly/2024wp and a petition was started change.org/p/sustainable-… (6/X)

And among the senior tech leaders that I speak to, there is a definite change in focus from "doing cool/interesting tech" to "doing something meaningful", be that using tech to work on big problems such as Climate Change or poverty or working with refugees or similar (7/X)

This is all one and the same thing. We can't dismiss our responsibilities as a tech community in these other areas any more. Not all techies will have the same impacts, but those at the top are definitely seeing it. (8/X)

So, coming back to Google, and Amazon/Facebook/Apple/Microsoft/etc...

Get your ethics sorted. Pick a path, but know that taking an ethical stance will hit you in some way. You will almost certainly lose business over it.

But we've reached a new moment in the tech journey (9/X)

2019 is the moment that tech chooses what it wants to be. Does it want to stick with the idea that it's "just a utilitarian tool" and that it's only the bottom line that matters? Or does tech want to be the force for good that many in the industry want, and know it can be? (10/X)

There are so many good people in tech looking for a way forwards and a strong ethical stance to be taken by a big tech company.

At present, *all* of them are falling down ethically.

The big opportunity? #ClimateChange

If you're going to pick something, pick that (11/11)