Gebru, a widely respected leader in AI ethics research, is known for coauthoring a groundbreaking paper that showed facial recognition to be less accurate at identifying women and people of color, which means its use can end up discriminating against them. She also cofounded the Black in AI affinity group, and champions diversity in the tech industry. The team she helped build at Google is one of the most diverse in AI and includes many leading experts in their own right.
The Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR) was founded by Timnit Gebru, who also serves as its executive director. Previous to that, she was sacked by Google in December 2020 for bringing up concerns about workplace discrimination when she was co-leading the Ethical AI research team. After earning her PhD from Stanford University, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the FATE group at Microsoft Research in New York City. There, she researched algorithmic prejudice and the moral considerations surrounding data-driven initiatives. Timnit is a board member of AddisCoder and co-founder of Black in AI, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing Black people’s presence, inclusion, visibility, and well-being in the AI sector.
2023
Turkopticon and the Distributed AI Research Institute are pleased that Sen. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jayapal (WA-07) have released a letter to Congress demanding answers from Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and other tech giants regarding the working conditions of data workers, particularly those who are responsible for training and moderating generative artificial intelligence systems. The letter describes how data workers are subjected to low salaries with no benefits, continuous monitoring, arbitrary mass rejections and wage theft, and working circumstances that lead to psychological discomfort. It cites significant studies from Turkopticon and DAIR.
According to Krystal Kauffman, primary organizer for Turkopticon, “we see this as a step forward in the fight against unfair practices leveraged by companies like Amazon, Google, and OpenAI in their shadow workforce.” These internet behemoths participate in dubious labor practices that harm employees by underpaying them and failing to hold them accountable. Turkopticon has been battling Amazon using a tactic known as “mass rejections,” when companies turn down every job that is submitted, retain the data, but fail to pay the employees. Although they are happy to see that members of Congress are speaking out for these workers, Amazon has not wanted to collaborate on finding a solution to this issue.
— @timnitGebru@dair-community.social on Mastodon (@timnitGebru) December 9, 2023
We got some nice messages of appreciation, with some from students & tech workers who were feeling isolated. I hope people came away from our the event understanding how much of a tech & "AI" issue this is & how much we can do about it. I highly suggest watching the recording. https://t.co/vvPOigRMFx
— @timnitGebru@dair-community.social on Mastodon (@timnitGebru) December 7, 2023
Instead of universities serving as an alternative, or a check to the power held by these companies, it seems they're joining?
What exactly is this alliance and what type of "information" will they be sharing? I'm confused. https://t.co/PnPooaihNW
— @timnitGebru@dair-community.social on Mastodon (@timnitGebru) December 7, 2023
