Insider Q&A: Ex-Google AI skeptic Timnit Gebru starts anew
ABC News
When she co-led Google’s Ethical AI team, Timnit Gebru was a prominent insider voice questioning the tech industry’s approach to artificial intelligence
When she co-led Google's Ethical AI team, Timnit Gebru was a prominent insider voice questioning the tech industry's approach to artificial intelligence.
That was before Google pushed her out of the company more than a year ago. Now Gebru is trying to make change from the outside as the founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, or DAIR.
Born to Eritrean parents in Ethiopia, Gebru spoke with The Associated Press recently about how poorly Big Tech's AI priorities — and its AI-fueled social media platforms — serve Africa and elsewhere. The new institute focuses on AI research from the perspective of the places and people most likely to experience its harms.
She’s also co-founder of the group Black in AI, which promotes Black employment and leadership in the field. And she’s known for co-authoring a landmark 2018 study that found racial and gender bias in facial recognition software. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
