Following Drones Controversy, Google Publishes Ethical AI Principles

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – Following significant internal backlash at Google against the firm's participation in a U.S. military drone surveillance program, CEO Sundar Pichai has published a list of seven key ethical principles to guide the company's use of AI. Back in April, over 3,000 Google employees – including senior figures – signed an open letter in protest of the search giant's participation in the Pentagon-run Project Maven. Project Maven saw Google machine vision technology being leveraged to'improve' the targeting of U.S. drone strikes, in what the open letter referred to as a'biased and weaponized' use of AI. "This plan will irreparably damage Google's brand and its ability to compete for talent," the letter said. "Google is already struggling to keep the public's trust. Less than two months later, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has responded publicly by setting out core ethical principles for the company's applications of AI and machine learning going forward. Pichai refers to these as'concrete standards' that will'actively govern' Google's research and product development, and more significantly, will impact their business decisions. "We recognize that such powerful technology raises equally powerful questions about its use," Pichai says in a blog post on the company's site. "How AI is developed and used will have a significant impact on society for many years to come.