Read on Twitter
Ethical AI co-lead in Google, @timnitGebru, is "resignated" (thanks for the word @mmitchell_ai) because she demanded to know, by whom and why their paper (on the ethical questioning of large language models) was being retracted by Google, after the approval. (1/n) #ISupportTimnit
For those of you that don't know Timnit, @math_rachel gives a very brief summary of her accomplishments. She is the one that maneuvers the whole field to think responsibly about our ML models. https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1334545393057599488 (2/n)
For those of you that don't know her leadership skills, @lynetcha gives an excellent example about why all the black and underrepresented minorities look up to her. https://twitter.com/lynetcha/status/1334901898604736512 (3/n)
Back to the topic, she is fired. Because she questioned, she demanded, she sought accountability, and she resisted authority. The actual reason behind her immediate cut of was this e-mail from her, reflecting her frustration about DEI issues. https://www.platformer.news/p/the-withering-email-that-got-an-ethical (4/n)
Now almost 2K Googlers and 2.5K academic and industry colleagues are standing with @timnitGebru in this petition, growing in numbers. #IStandWithTimnit https://googlewalkout.medium.com/standing-with-dr-timnit-gebru-isupporttimnit-believeblackwomen-6dadc300d382 (5/n)
Google gave a PR-smelling cotton candy to ensure everything is fine and everyone is supported. I believe just reading this response by itself would make anyone grimace at the corporate power that @timnitGebru and others were resisting. (6/n) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2kYWDXwhzYnq8ebVtuk9CqQqz7ScqxhSIxeYGrWjK0/preview?pru=AAABdlOOKBs*gTzLnuI53B2IS2BISVcgAQ
Meanwhile, Timnit's boss Samy Bengio, thrown out of the loop, shows full support and solidarity, mentioning that all neither her team nor the broader Brain team can make sense of this decision. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3469738016467233&id=100002932057665 (7/n)
In addition, her team (including @alexhanna, @negar_rz, and others) are traumatized by this decision. If she was a bad manager, how her team could be so supportive and devoted, I wonder. https://twitter.com/alexhanna/status/1335986335606321156 (8/n)
If you're interested in the paper in question, there is a leak posted on Reddit. By the way, there is a mega thread there but I strongly discourage anyone from reading scrolls of supremacist brotherhood toxicity on Reddit. https://gofile.io/d/WfcxoF (9/n)
All in all, do something. Sign the walkout, share/cite her work, question those in power, ask for accountability, withstand scientific censorship, and contemplate non-technical effects of your research on communities, on environment, on law, on power, etc. #ISupportTimnit (10/10)
