Google employees working with Timnit Gabru are coming out in public for a lawsuit against the star AI ethics researcher. On Monday, the team firmly published a letter on the Google Outout media account stating that Gabru had been fired and that the head of artificial intelligence, Jeff Dean, said Gabru had been fired and had not resigned. They also said that the publication review policy that Gabru had to follow was implemented “unequally and discriminatoryly”.
“The letter states that Gabru’s dismissal was intended as a resignation, but in Dr Gabru’s own words, he did not resign. He notes that Gabru was asked to meet certain conditions for staying at Google, including transparency in which he wanted to withdraw his paper. Eventually, the leaders of the Ethical AI team said they could not meet these conditions and overwhelmingly accepted her resignation. His own manager said he was “stunned”.
The paper that Gabru has found explores the detailed potential risks associated with large language processing models, including greater reliance on data from richer countries with more Internet access. “The result is that the AI-generated language will be unified, reflecting the practices of rich countries and communities.” MIT Technology Review.
This research could be problematic for Google, which created a large language model called BRT in 2018, which has changed the way it queries search results.
Gabru was planning to present the paper at the Computer Science Conference in March. On October 7th, she submitted it to Google for internal review. It was approved immediately after midnight on October 8th.
In his statement, Dean said the research team needed two weeks to review. “Unfortunately, this particular paper was shared with just one day’s notice before its deadline,” he wrote.
But Gabru’s team is moving toward that assessment, saying the review policy is flexible, and most people do not follow the structure designed by the dean. The team collected data to show that the majority of approvals are made ahead of schedule, and 41 percent Then Deadline. “This review doesn’t really need to be hard for papers with a two-week notice,” he wrote.
Google managers asked Gabru to withdraw the paper or delete his name, a request with which he felt like censorship in an interview. Wired. “You don’t have papers that keep the company happy all the time and don’t show problems.” “That’s the opposite of what it means to be a researcher.”
Gabru sent an email to the brainwashed woman and fellow listed on Google with details of the pushback he would get on paper. He also voiced enthusiasm for the company’s diversity, equity and inclusive efforts. “D.I.I. [objectives and key results] We don’t know where they came from (and yet never met), random discussions, ‘we need more mentors’ than ‘we need to stop the toxic environment that hinders progress’, constant fighting and education “at your expense, They don’t care, “he wrote.
This frustration was shared by his team members, who felt the company’s goals of creating a more diverse and appropriate workplace were weak. “They really demand imagination,” says Alex Hanna, a senior researcher working under Gabru.
More than 1,500 employees have signed the Google Outout petition in protest of Gabru’s dismissal. “Instead of being accepted by Google as an exceptionally talented and well-known contributor, Dr. Gebru has faced defenses, racism, gaslighting, research censorship and now revenge shootings,” the petition said.
But it is his team members who feel the loss most intensely. “We’ve moved a lot,” says Hannah. “When your team has a heart and soul that is obviously fired for doing any ethics research, what can you do?”
Improvement: An earlier version of the article stated that the letter was signed by more than 100 Google employees. It was a Google Outout petition. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.
