AI THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

Timnit Gebru, Google’s former co-head of ethical AI research, on how to rethink and reform her field

- Dina Bass

Timnit Gebru is one of the leading voices working on ethics in artificial intelligence. Her research has explored ways to combat biases, such as racism and sexism, that creep into AI through flawed data and creators. At Google, she and colleague Margaret Mitchell ran a team focused on the subject—until they tried to publish a paper critical of Google products and were dismissed. (Gebru says Google fired her; the company says she resigned.) Now Gebru, a founder of the affinity group Black in AI, is lining up backers for an independent AI research group. Calls to hold Big Tech accountable for its products and practices, she says, can’t all be made from inside the house.

What can we do right now to make AI more fair—less likely to disadvantage Black Americans and other groups in everything from mortgage lending to criminal sentencing?