T3THICS is Monika & Marta’s weekly roundup of tech ethics news (and olds) - and our quick thoughts on them.
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Tech’s WFH Woes
The grass is greener on the other side is an expression that not only refers to the nature of jealousy, but also the risk/assumption of making a decision based on perception. At least in our opinion.
A reoccurring theme in articles writing about tech culture over the course of the pandemic has been the will they/won’t they debate of creating a fully remote workforce. Some companies, like Shopify, committed full out to a remote company, others were less noncommittal. Now, as the world has decided, somewhat arbitrarily that we are ‘post-pandemic’, companies are revealing their cards. Apple and Google have publicly declared their back to work policies, with Google’s strong campaign to show just how great the workplace is with themed welcome back parties and festivities. There apparently was a concert by Lizzo.
The news around Apple’s WFH policy has been centered around an interesting angle; the departure of renowned AI innovator, Ian Goodfellow from Apple based on his reported displeasure of the return to work policy. Weirdly enough, news articles have lauded his subsequent joining Google (which isn’t exactly true - he joined DeepMind), based on the preferred WFH policy (which if it was in fact Google, would require him to be in the office a minimum three days of the week, unless granted an exemption). Apple’s policy seems to be a minimum of one day a week.
The next few months will be the ultimate litmus test of how companies proceed in how best to support their employees, continue their productivity, and if only in an aspirational attempt, try to mitigate burnout.
Monika’s Things
Georgetown’s Center on Privacy and Technology won’t be using “artificial intelligence” or AI anymore because the words are too synonymous with handwaving hype
Meanwhile, VC’s aren’t just doubling down on AI hype, they’re tripling down on it with far fetched predictions about the coming of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)
Others aren’t impressed:
Scaling without careful modelling and #softwareengineering is not going to do it. If the aim is #AGI then understanding human intelligence is key. How mind deals with abstraction, causality, etc. is not replaceable by more data. #ResponsibleAI 1/nMy opinion: Maybe scaling is enough. Maybe. And we definitely need to do all the things @NandoDF lists. But I see very little in Gato to suggest scaling alone will get us to human-level generalisation. It falls so far short. Thankfully we're working in multiple directions https://t.co/29pk6sn7NaMurray Shanahan @mpshanahanExtra thoughts on why AGI isn’t feasible with current frameworks for trying to create it from Francois Chollet
HuggingFace has a new Fellowship Program for community members!
David Gelles has a new piece + book reflecting on the dark legacy of former G.E. CEO Jack Welch and how it’s influenced the way tech companies and CEOs like Elon Musk operate today
Speaking of Elon Musk, here’s a thread by E.W. Niedermeyer on his investigation into how Tesla was actually charging its cars (spoiler alert, it’s not environmentally friendly like they claimed)
Also relevant:
Meta’s trying to monetize businesses’ use of What’sApp in a bid to reverse its downward spiral
Great thread rounding up reporting on MasterCard’s launch of a “smile to pay” biometric surveillance payments capability
Elsewhere in the wild west of plummeting tech stocks, this piece by Alex Kantrowitz tracks all the reasons DTC brands like Warby Parker and Allbirds are tanking
Relational thinking for the cybersec crowd: how can cyber learn from safety engineering?
This week’s tech bro nonsense (which has a deep, entrenched history as Timnit Gebru writes here):
This week’s Signal in Noise tweet is actually a must read newsletter from Bob Hoffman predicting the demise of the ad tech industry’s current incarnation:
Based on the findings of the data protection authorities in the TCF case, there is no way in the world that Real-Time Bidding (RTB) -- the technology that underpins the entire programmatic ad system -- is legal.
Another excellent piece about privacy this week is The Markup’s thoughtful discussion of privacy risk resulting from the striking down of Roe with Laura Lazaro Cabrera, legal officer at nonprofit Privacy International
A lot of terms in tech ethics get bandied about and ought to be interrogated, starting with “members of civil society”
Who (exactly) are members of “civil society”? 👀 https://t.co/NIWHnSmuT1Today John Edwards (@JCE_IC) is meeting with members of civil society to hear their ambitions for the future of data protection, FOI and the role of the ICO. We're still asking for feedback as part of our #YourViewsMatter tour - let us know your thoughts: https://t.co/GGgZZxt5ne https://t.co/2vpFioedtEICO - Information Commissioner's Office @ICOnewsFinally this week, I loved this piece from Neil Turkewitz reflecting on the NYT’s “Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto” series. One of my favorite parts (but you should really read the full thing):
Now it’s all fine and good for Kevin to say that “some proponents will say” that decentralization will empower artists. That’s a true statement. Some people will say that Trump was the greatest president in US history. That is also a true statement of the views of “some people.” But it is beyond irresponsible to fail to interrogate this claim, and the lessons of history in demonstrating its failures.