Google fires second AI ethics researcher following internal investigation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has fired Margaret Mitchell, co-lead of the ethical AI team, after she used an automated script to look through her emails in order to find evidence of discrimination against Timnit Gebru. The news was first reported by Axios. Mitchell’s firing comes one day after Google announced a reorganization to its AI teams working on ethics and fairness. Marian Croak, a vice president in the engineering organization, is now leading “a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research,” according to a blog post. “These decisions were made behind our backs” The ethical AI team has been in turmoil since Gebru’s termination in early December. After the announcement yesterday, senior researcher Alex Hanna wrote that the team was... Continue reading…