Google has announced that they are eliminating their Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board, just a week after it was established.
Calls for an ethics board to oversee Google’s ever growing and developing artificial intelligence has been years in the making. (RELATED: Applause At Google’s All-Hands Meeting As Company Drops Heritage Foundation President)
The ethics board, also known as Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) was founded on March 26, 2019, as an eight-member group charged with overseeing the “responsible development of AI” for Google.
But internal turmoil started from the get-go. One of the eight board members was CEO Dyan Gibbens of the drone company Trumbull Unmanned. Gibbens sparked immediate controversy over the use of Google’s AI being used for military applications – a topic that has caused divisions within the company for years.
And thousands of Google employees signed a petition to have another board member removed. Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James was widely contested due to comments she made regarding trans people, as well as her organization’s stance on climate change. (RELATED: Exclusive: Meet The Five Google Staffers Who Circulated The Petition To Drop Kay Coles James)
Board member Joanna Bryson defended her position on Twitter for not resigning when Kay Coles James was placed on the board.
Fellow board member Alessandro Acquisti then released a statement on Twitter that this was not the “right forum for [her] to engage in this important work.”
Tune in to see the significance in Google finding and instituting an Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board.