https://www-technologyreview-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/04/1013294/google-ai-ethics-research-paper-forced-out-timnit-gebru/amp/ Googleers any comments ?
Goodbye
Paper is talking about dated tech. Latest development in model shrinking and data center optimization not cited.
Read Jeff internal email also ! Shows that it didn’t meet google review process
I did. As a AI researcher and internal reviewer myself I have to say the process is fair and square. 1-2 weeks of review time is reasonable. Last day before due date is unprofessional.
All drama aside, her concerns are valid.
I think she got the results she was looking for, to bring attention to the issues about AI that few were paying attention to before. You don’t get your point across by making people comfortable with the status quo. I for one am reading a lot more about this class of problems than before. I’m pretty sure she only went this far because she couldn’t get Google management to care.
You're giving her too much credit
She’s not the only one who feels marginalized there. Just the brave one to rail against authority that’s all. This is from another researcher at Google ethical ai.
Imagine going to a large tech firm and thinking they'll put ethics before profit. Laughable.
Saw her debate with LeCun, not a fan. A liar doesn’t even know she is lying.
Toxic behavior is not fostered in one day. Here is from Reddit. throwaway424599 7h Another ex-colleague here. I was not going to participate in the discussions but your post made me realize objective truth should come out. I do believe she actually thinks she is making the world a better place but in reality any interaction with her has been incredibly stressful having to carefully weigh every move made in her presence. When this blows over her departure will be a net positive for the morale of the company. To give a concrete example of what it is like to work with her I will describe something that has not come to light until now. When GPT-3 came out a discussion thread was started in the brain papers group. Timnit was one of the first to respond with some of her thoughts. Almost immediately a very high profile figure has also also responded with his thoughts. He is not Lecun or Dean but he is close. What followed for the rest of the thread was Timnit blasting privileged white men for ignoring the voice of a black woman. Nevermind that it was painfully clear they were writing their responses at the same time. Message after message she would blast both the high profile figure and anyone who so much as implied it could have been a misunderstanding. In the end everyone just bent over backwards apologizing to her and the thread was abandoned along with the whole brain papers group which was relatively active up to that point. She has effectively robbed thousands of colleagues of insights into their seniors thought process just because she didn't immediately get attention. The thread is still up there so any googler can see it for themselves and verify I am telling the truth.
Good riddance.
Here’s a another ex-colleague commenting: Having worked with Timnit in the past, I can say that she has received criticism for things which I know for a fact that similar men who have worked with the same critics have not gotten. These men's personalities have been described as ambitious, no nonsense, straight talking, to the point, no BS, driven, principled, etc. Despite the consensus among her distractors that Timnit's "abrasive" personality got her fired, there is no indication from either her or Jeff Dean or any of the principal players that this was a factor. Specifically, the evidence we have indicates that she was frustrated because feedback about her research was for unknown reasons sent to HR and she was prevented from even looking at the feedback. Her manager's manager would only agree to verbally read the feedback to her. Notice that none of her detractors are bothering to discuss the more interesting question of whether this is healthy, respectful, and professional behavior from leadership in a work setting. They have jumped to the conclusion that she deserved virtually anything she got because her employer can do anything it wants, end of discussion. Despite the consensus among her distractors that Timnit's "abrasive" personality got her fired, there is no indication from either her or Jeff Dean or any of the principal players that this was a factor. Specifically, the evidence we have indicates that she was frustrated because feedback about her research was for unknown reasons sent to HR and she was prevented from even looking at the feedback. Her manager's manager would only agree to verbally read the feedback to her.”
Calling women with the same qualities as “driven” men “abrasive” is sexism. Calling black women with the same qualities as “driven” white men “abrasive” is racist sexism. The reddit comment from her “former colleague” that keeps being pasted on every gd blind thread about Timnit’s firing validates my decision to stay as far af away from faang as I can.
There is a line between toxic name calling and being “driven, aggressive”. Regardless of gender or race , Timnit is toxic every time I saw communications from her.
Trump is a shy choir boy in comparison to her. Her level of narcissistic self obsession is through the roof. She see herself as some kind of arbiter of ethics everyone supposed come to.
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