Ethical AI researcher Timnit Gebru fired from Google

Post by bananaface » Fri, Dec 04, 2020, 2:26 AM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #231

telltruth wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand, she first sent out mass email to large group of employees that outright violated Google's policy. This act alone was sufficient for immediate termination. However, she then tried to bargain with her manager. Her manager basically let her know that bargaining was irrelevant and her action was serious enough that she is being terminated immediately. Then she comes back and tells the story with twist th…

The email has been posted in full and it sounds like it was to a standard mailing list. Nothing in the email sounds like something you would be fired over. But Google seems really sensitive these days.

Post by free_rms » Fri, Dec 04, 2020, 2:59 AM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #245

free_rms wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be a lot more productive to lobby for inclusion of more samples into the performance measurement datasets than to get into super-combative twitter pissfights with people who aren't even opposed to that? That's, like, not even culture war, it's just basic correctness of the reference datasets. If a fruit classifier was missing oranges, we'd just fix it and move on.

Haha, well, you know how it is. Everyone has their own opinion as to how to solve problems like this. Some people see their role as sort of fire alarms to say "Hey! This thing is happening!". You know, like how every thing has people at all stages in the process. Others might believe that this is one instance (the benchmarks being 'wrong') and that a better outcome would be that the people putting out this stuff are…

Post by pinewurst » Fri, Dec 04, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

joijoiwejrr wrote: post #206

whoknew1122 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume that there isn't a 'Google Brain Men and Allies' affinity group. "Google Brain" does likely have its own general distro where standard work-related topics are discussed. At the hazard of becoming 'political' and triggering people, affinity groups are typically created for groups that have traditionally been underserved, marginalized, or have special considerations. As a cis male, I don't really see the…

> Latinx employees Is there an affinity group for the overwhelming majority of "Latinx" people who don't use or like this term?

Post by flippinburgers » Fri, Dec 04, 2020, 4:15 AM UTC

timnit-drama wrote: post #15

The email she posted [1] makes it pretty clear that she sent an email with some demands/conditions (separate from the one "to Brain women and allies") and said that she would resign if they weren't met. Google said they wouldn't agree to them, accepted her threatened resignation, and told her it was effective immediately. Without knowing more context, it sounds like she tried to do some hardball negotiating by threat…

Post by flippinburgers » Fri, Dec 04, 2020, 4:26 AM UTC

_iyig wrote: post #188

drewrv wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damore was an engineer whose continued employment would open the company up to a risk of lawsuit. Gebru was an ethicist who was willing to resign over some deep concerns. Presumably ethical concerns. We don't know much more about Gebru's situation, but they're different enough that it's not a useful comparison.

Damore kept his memo internal and did not circulate it widely. (It was leaked to the public in a calculated attempt to pressure Google into firing Damore.) As recently as last week, while she was still a Google employee, Gebru publicly accused her “privileged White men” bosses of racial bias: >Nothing like a bunch of privileged White men trying to squash research by marginalized communities for marginalized communiti…