Google Already Gave up on AI Ethics Board

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Google’s “independent” AI Ethics board didn’t even last a week. Google already shut down the board, likely in part due to criticism of its appointees. One person in particular, Kay Cole James, had no experience in AI, technology, and certainly not ethics. She’s the head of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that works to roll back women’s rights and LGBTQ rights worldwide, as well as push nationalistic and thinly veiled racist views. She herself has spoken out against immigrants, a woman’s right to her own body, and has made several transphobic remarks, calling for restrictions on trans rights and healthcare.

Google stated that, “It’s become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can’t function as we wanted. So we’re ending the council and going back to the drawing board.” It seems clear that Google didn’t know what they wanted their ethics board to be from the beginning. It seems they didn’t want an oversight committee as much as a shield from attacks from both liberals and conservatives. It didn’t work.

Ethics and bigotry don’t mix, and Google could have appointed a conservative that wasn’t so hateful. Instead, they tried to appeal to those on the far right, making the group less about ethics and more about ensuring they could do whatever they want with AI.

Thousands of Google employees signed a petition to remove the transphobic James form Google’s board. Other members left the board over the other appointees, including one who ran a drone company. All members of the board were independently wealthy enough to accept an unpaid job. The entire concept was flawed from the start, but it couldn’t even stay together for an entire week.

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Sources:

• Bryan Menegus, Gizmodo
• Kelsey Piper, Vox