Google’s pledge that it will not use the technology to develop applications for surveillance and weapons has been removed from its new, publicly available AI ethics policy.
CNN included applications it will not pursue in a prior iteration of the principles that were viewed by the internet archive Wayback Machine. Weapons or other devices designed to do harm to people were one such type. Another was the use of technologies for surveillance that went beyond international standards.
The revised principles page no longer contains that text.
The race to develop artificial intelligence has accelerated since OpenAI introduced the chatbot ChatGPT in 2022, but laws and rules pertaining to AI ethics and transparency have not kept up with the rapid advancement of AI. Google appears to have relaxed self-imposed limitations around AI.
Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis and senior vice president of research, labs, technology & society James Manyika wrote on Tuesday that Google’s “understanding of AI’s potential and risks” has been strengthened by AI frameworks released by democratic nations.
“As the geopolitical scene becomes more complex, there is a worldwide rivalry for leadership in AI. According to the blog post, “We think democracies should lead in AI development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights.”
“And we think that businesses, governments, and groups that share these values should collaborate to develop AI that safeguards people, fosters global development, and supports national security,” the post went on.
In 2018, Google released its AI Principles, years before the technology was practically commonplace. The values of those first disclosed principles have been drastically reversed in Google’s upgrade.
Google said that “we couldn’t be assured that it would align with our AI Principles” after it withdrew its $10 billion bid for a Pentagon contract in cloud computing in 2018. Around a dozen workers quit in protest after more than 4,000 workers signed a petition that year calling for “a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology.”
