OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – Google Alphabet Inc on Thursday announced Marian Croak, one of its few black officers, to oversee an investigation into intelligent artificial intelligence (AI) after weeks of internal anger over a person ‘s shooting. famous Black science.
Google has confirmed that Croak will manage 10 teams, including a dozen scientists studying the ethical consideration of automated technologies called AI. Ethical AI co-director Timnit Gebru said in December that Google had suddenly fired her for competing with company orders.
Employees have for weeks expressed concern that Gebru’s critics on Google have been unfairly punished, and Croak has been among activists trying to find a way forward between employees and leaders.
Croak, vice president of engineering who will report to Google AI chief Jeff Dean, told staff at a meeting Thursday that she respected Gebru and that what happened to her was unfortunate.
In a video on a Google blog, she acknowledged disagreements in the search fields that are now a sight. “There’s a lot of conflict right now within the field, and it can be polarizing at times, and I’d like to just make people talk in a more diplomatic way,” she said.
Google employee Alex Hanna tweeted the news of Croak’s “betrayal,” saying it happened behind the back of the Ethical AI team and did not deal with requests made by the team after the Gebru shooting.
Gebru said in a statement, “Marian is an extremely capable trailblazing scientist whom I admired and even trusted. It is very painful to see her legitimizing what Jeff Dean and his subordinates have done to me and my team. “
Croak, who previously worked on site reliability for Google, also oversees teams that conduct search related to accessibility, social well-being and equity in health algorithms.
Reciting with Paresh Dave and Jeffrey Dastin; Edited by Christopher Cushing