Gebru-Gibberish: A Promise, Consultants, and Surgical Management Action

March 1, 2021

I read “Google Reportedly Promises Change to Research Team after High Profile Firings.” The article explains that after female artificial intelligence researchers found their futures elsewhere, Google (the mom and pop neighborhood online ad agency) will:

will change its research review procedures this year.

Okay, 10 months.

The write up points out that the action is

an apparent bid to restore employee confidence in the wake of two high-profile firings of prominent women from the [AI ethics] division.

Yep, words. I found this passage redolent of Gebru-gibberish; that is, wordage which explains how smart software ethics became a bit of a problem for the estimable Google outfit:

By the end of the second quarter, the approvals process for research papers will be more smooth and consistent, division Chief Operating Officer Maggie Johnson reportedly told employees in the meeting. Research teams will have access to a questionnaire that allows them to assess their projects for risk and navigate review, and Johnson predicted that a majority of papers would not require additional vetting by Google. Johnson also said the division is bringing in a third-party firm to help it conduct a racial-equity impact assessment, Reuters reports, and she expects the assessment’s recommendations “to be pretty hard.”

Okay. A questionnaire. A third party firm. Pretty hard.

What’s this mean?

The Ars Technica write up does not translate. However, from my vantage point in rural Kentucky, I understand the Gebru-gibberish to mean:

Talk about ethical smart software and the GOOG reacts in a manner informed by high school science club principles
Female AI experts are perceived as soft targets but that may be a misunderstanding in the synapses of the Google
The employee issues at Google are overshadowing other Google challenges; for example, the steady rise of Amazon product search, the legal storm clouds, and struggles with the relevance of ads displayed in response to user queries or viewed YouTube videos.

Do I expect more Gebru-gibberish?

Will Microsoft continue to insist that its SAML is the most wonderful business process in the whole wide world?

Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2021

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Google, Legal matters, Management, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.