We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google

Post by 495636483 » Sun, Dec 06, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

495636483 wrote: post #549

dzdt wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker News is about pseudonymous discussion. Only a small percent of HN posters are building a brand name. Twitter is much more real-name based and personal brand-building focussed. Jumping in on a bandwagon to signal group membership in an in group can help brand-building. Going against the in group is potentially fatal to your brand. The risk/reward balance does not favor genuine discussion of a controversial topi…

This is not true. HN very much behaves like the rest. The hive mind here just keeps repeating the mantra while still downvoting dissenting opinions. Look at the other dead comment. Was that really bad enough to kill it? And from my experience, if you really challenge the powerful crowd you get vengeance killed all over the thread. Also accounts here are not like on reddit. You gain power with accepted comments. That'…

Post by tptacek » Sun, Dec 06, 2020, 6:21 PM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #652

tptacek wrote: post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I'm sorry, the high horse you're trying to ride here just isn't going to hold the weight of the ideological argument you tried to make. Timnit Gebru was severed from Google because of a conflict between her and the research practices at Google. Moreover, the story begins with her offering an ultimatum and Google preemptively accepting her resignation. No part of this story reasonably involves the "gender differen…

Probably fairer to say she was severed because the fruits of her research are irreconcilable with the company's peaceful enjoyment of its core business model. The sudden commitment to research practices (as documented elsewhere in this thread) being a fig leaf for that less comfortable truth.

Post by selimthegrim » Sun, Dec 06, 2020, 6:41 PM UTC

CuriouslyC wrote: post #350

akie wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a far-left “woke” interpretation of the world that I view as of immediate threat to our way of living, democracy and free speech. WTF dude. The core argument as to what you say is a "woke" interpretation of the world is to reshape the world in such a way that inherent privilege (for example being rich, being white, being male) does not completely predetermine anyone's outcomes. So that you can still "make it" even…

I think when people pull an episode of a TV show featuring an Asian man wearing make-up to play a dark elf due to fear of reprisal from race crusaders, we're in a bad place.

Post by zepto » Sun, Dec 06, 2020, 7:20 PM UTC

chishaku wrote: post #656

dragonwriter wrote: post #650

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> believe Google vs believe a solitary worker But it's not a solitary worker, many Google AI workers have spoken up and said that even if the management narrative is true as to what happened in the specific case, it would represent a radically different review process — both as to what the review looked at and the request to retract rather than correct when there was a plenty of time for corrections for the conferenc…

Good point, I agree. My implication was that in the absence of all the facts, many are making a deliberate choice to believe one side or the other. As far as this specific community, I'm not surprised that many (not all) take Google at their word.

Post by zepto » Sun, Dec 06, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

chishaku wrote: post #658

zepto wrote: post #657

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What facts do you think are missing, and what do you mean by ‘a deliberate choice to believe one side or the other’?

Most of the circumstances around the firing are hearsay. My weakly-held assessment agrees with your comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25316014 The following comment and thread demonstrate how many in the HN community reflexively defend Google. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25320745