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Is Google’s AI research about to implode?

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Re: Is Google’s AI research about to implode?

#5

Post by nmfisher »

Set aside the ethics issues for the moment, the criticism that Google is neglecting alternatives to neural networks is probably reasonably fair.

But on the other hand, research labs or not, Google is still a commercial entity driven by a shorter term horizon than your average academic.

Google Research has probably subconsciously drifted towards areas (or at least applications) that can tangibly benefit Google in the near future. Neural networks might not be The Answer (TM), but they can deliver results today, and there's still untapped potential. Speech recognition, search, speech synthesis - all core Google products - have all benefited from neural networks, not to mention the broader applications like protein folding for DeepMind.

I'm hesitant to find fault in a corporate group that's doubling down on the stuff that's actually delivering results, even if it's probably not the path to AGI.

I probably wouldn't be so lenient with OpenAI, because they are (were) purely a research outfit, openly committed to AGI.

Re: Is Google’s AI research about to implode?

#7

Post by hankstenberg »

nmfisher wrote: post #5

Set aside the ethics issues for the moment, the criticism that Google is neglecting alternatives to neural networks is probably reasonably fair. But on the other hand, research labs or not, Google is still a commercial entity driven by a shorter term horizon than your average academic. Google Research has probably subconsciously drifted towards areas (or at least applications) that can tangibly benefit Google in the…

In my opinion it's Peter Naur who has found the key issues that keep AGI out of reach for us. Check out his Turing Award lecture. Too bad that it is the von-Neumann-architecture itself that is keeping us from reaching our goal, because it is still a crude emulator for information processing as it is really done. Like in nature.

Re: Is Google’s AI research about to implode?

#9

Post by dealforager »

No. Every time someone makes a big stink about someone getting fired at one of the top tech companies, it is promptly followed by an article like this. A trillion dollar company that hires thousands of researchers and consistently produces some of the highest quality research with real results is not going to implode from one person being gone. Another pattern I've seen is someone leaving a company, followed by writing an article about how the company is doomed. Of course, the doom never arrives and the companies do even better. All of us are replaceable, from Bill Gates to Jeff Bezos to this researcher. This doesn't mean I agree with the firing, just saying that there is no implosion incoming.

Re: Is Google’s AI research about to implode?

#10

Post by kristianpaul »

“ Is there hope for Google Brain? One glimmer can be found in the fact that most of the articles I cite here, criticising Google’s overall approach, are written by their own researchers. But the fact that they fired Gebru — the author of at least three of the most insightful articles ever produced by their research department and in modern AI as a whole — is deeply worrying. If the leaders who claim to be representing the majority of ‘Googlers’ can’t accept even the mildest of critiques from co-workers, then it does not bode well for the company’s innovation. The risk is that the ‘assumption free’ neural network proponents will double down on their own mistakes.”
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