Thread by @annajobin

If a company cannot even pretend to care about its internal "Ethical AI" co-leader, how much do you think they care about the rest of us?

In the wake of Google's outing of @timnitgebru, my two cents on #AIethics #BigTech #IStandWithTimnit: annajobin.medium.com/why-dr-timnit-…

I see @MiaD reached the same conclusion, expressing it much more eloquently:

"Gebru and others are the last line of defense in our quest for ethical and inclusive tech. If we don’t stand up for them now, soon there will be no one left to fight for us."

miad.medium.com/dr-timnit-gebr…

More food for thought -- and action --, which I will have to sit with myself (because 🔥🔥🔥), comes from @UpFromTheCracks: "We must support Timnit and acknowledge that support isn’t enough."

upfromthecracks.medium.com/on-the-moral-c…

My own blog post spawns from my initial reaction, which even made a reporter reach out to me, assuming I had worked with Google. Perhaps b/c I said it was scary for all of us, they thought I referred to the chilling effect on employees?

https://twitter.com/annajobin/status/1334404746246049793

But I've been writing as both a researcher and a citizen of this world, recalling a @logic_magazine event with @tressiemcphd @TarletonG @bentarnoff and @moiragweigel I attended in 2018 (remember? people used to gather in one place indoors...). This ⤵️

https://twitter.com/annajobin/status/1030161523522584576

I learned of Google's firing of Dr. Gebru the same day I learned that the U.S. National Labor Relations Board found that the company illegally surveilled and fired employees for organizing. onezero.medium.com/google-illegal…

It's no new thing. But what's been striking me this time is the fact that @timnitgebru was the co-lead of the AI ethics team. You know, #AIethics, the big issue so close to Google's corporate heart that it's published principles and even established an External Advisory Council.

"Ethical" is not equivalent to "legal" - what is clear to philosophers (& others) still needs repeating. It doesn't mean regulation is not needed, on the contrary. But ethics complements law. @PhilAnais & Rowena Rodrigues have made the case for AI ethics⤵️

https://twitter.com/BigDataSoc/status/1286626692266680321

A little side note (1/2), which I forgot to include in my article: I met @PhilAnnais and @RRodriguesTRI (<- I've just found her twitter handle!) at a @SiennaEthics workshop for #ethicalAI. Sienna was requesting input from an array of stakeholders.

https://twitter.com/SiennaEthics/status/1303294150083776512

(Sidenote 2/2) @SiennaEthics deserves a lot of credit and attention. But I was surprised to realize I was the first one to bring up "whistleblower protection" in the context of multi-stakeholder strategies for #AIethics and accountability... it seems like such a no brainer!

Why I mention this? Well... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Dr. Gebru herself addressed the issue of whistleblower protection a few days before she was fired. (Many answers to her tweet point to existing work and mention scholars & resources. Will check them out myself.)

https://twitter.com/timnitGebru/status/1333613035945144323

Ethical artificial intelligence cannot be achieved through a narrow focus on technological fixes alone. Many have been saying this for quite some time. E.g. this recent award-winning article by @DrZimmermann @Elena_DiRosa & Hochan Kim is a great resource.
bostonreview.net/science-nature…

Ethical AI & #AIethics worth their names need to grapple with power. I haven't seen it said better than by @radical_ai_ in @nature "Don’t ask if AI is good or fair, ask how it shifts power. Those who could be exploited by AI should be shaping its projects" nature.com/articles/d4158…