Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a buzzword in the tech industry for years, with many companies investing heavily in the development of AI-powered products and services. However, the recent departure of one of Google’s top AI researchers has raised concerns about the potential risks of this technology.
Timnit Gebru, a prominent AI pioneer and co-leader of Google’s Ethical AI team, was fired from the company in December 2020 after she sent an email criticizing Google’s diversity and inclusion practices and raising concerns about the potential harms of large language models (LLMs), which are used to power many of Google’s products, including its search engine.
Gebru’s departure sparked outrage among the AI research community, with many calling for greater transparency and accountability in the development and deployment of AI technologies. In a statement, Gebru said that her firing was “a result of my ongoing work on ethical AI and my refusal to retract a research paper.”
The research paper in question, titled “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?” raised concerns about the potential harms of LLMs, which are trained on massive amounts of data and can generate human-like text. The paper argued that these models can perpetuate biases and misinformation, and can be used to spread hate speech and other harmful content.
Gebru’s departure has highlighted the need for greater oversight and regulation of AI technologies. Many experts argue that AI should be developed and deployed in a way that is transparent, accountable, and ethical. This includes ensuring that AI systems are not biased or discriminatory, and that they are designed to benefit society as a whole.
In response to Gebru’s firing, Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged to conduct a review of the company’s diversity and inclusion practices, and to improve communication with employees. However, many in the AI research community argue that more needs to be done to address the risks and potential harms of AI technologies.
As AI continues to evolve and become more pervasive in our daily lives, it is important that we remain vigilant and proactive in addressing the risks and potential harms of this technology. This includes investing in research and development of ethical AI, promoting transparency and accountability in the development and deployment of AI systems, and ensuring that AI is used to benefit society as a whole.
