Google Greenlights AI for Weapons & Surveillance, Sparking Ethical Concerns

On Tuesday, Google dropped from its “AI Principles” page its pledge not to pursue ventures that “cause overall harm,” applications for “weapons,” applications for “surveillance,” or pursuits that conflict with “international law and human rights.”

In addition to the decision to rescind the principles, two Google executives published a blog on Tuesday in which they stated that any new policy needed to be competitive and able to compete with the “increasingly complicated geopolitical environment.”

According to Wired, the AI principles were introduced in 2018 as a response to internal protests within the technology company regarding a contract with a United States drone project. The protest appears to have been successful. Google refused to renew the contract with the drone program, and instead announced AI principles.

On Tuesday, however, these principles were overruled. Google’s James Manyika and Demis Hazzabis, both CEOs of Google DeepMind and senior vice presidents for research, laboratories, technology, and society at the company, wrote a blog that they “believe that companies, governments, and organizations that share these values should collaborate to create AI which protects people, supports global growth and promotes national security.”

Google employees have expressed their concern over the company’s new position. Parul Koul is a Google software engineer and the president of the Alphabet Workers Union – CWA. She told Wired that it was “deeply concerning” to see Google abandon its commitment to ethical AI use without input from employees or the public.