Outrage Over Google’s Firing of AI Ethicist Timnit Gebru

Google abruptly fired Timnit Gebru last night, an AI ethicist who has tremendous respect around the world for her work on racial bias in algorithms. Gebru, who was the co-lead of Google’s ethical AI team, announced her firing in a series of tweets on Wednesday. The news was immediately met with outrage by fellow ethicists, her former co-workers, and many influential AI researchers.

“To be bold, to be honest, to know your worth, to speak up for others, to do the thankless work, to pioneer the way, to suffer no fools, to be all they could only wish to be, wrapped in black womanhood is an affront to those who would rather see us cower than own our power,” tweeted Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League and co-author with Gebru of a landmark paper that revealed facial recognition’s bias problem. Read more about Gebru’s firing here. For additional insights on minority AI algorithm bias, click here and here.

(Source: Todd Feathers; Vice News; 12/10/20)