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I thought this twitter thread by Kelsey Piper was pretty good: > as I look through her history I am mostly confused why she was chosen in the first place. She

I thought this twitter thread by Kelsey Piper was pretty good: > as I look through her history I am mostly confused why she was chosen in the first place. She doesn't have any background in tech. She doesn't have any prior writing or research related to AI. No background in the other topics that come up - surveillance, data privacy, international security. She's mostly a culture warrior, so no wonder now we're having a culture war. https://twitter.com/KelseyTuoc/status/1113544871292182528 https://twitter.com/KelseyTuoc/status/1113544871292182528

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
Agreed, thank you very much for posting. I don't know who Kelsey Piper is, but I feel it's exceedingly rare when I read something on Twitter that makes me come away feeling like I learned something at a deeper level. I'd encourage other folks to read the whole thread. It's not really mainly about Kay Cole James, more about how the whole panel looked like simply a PR exercise from the start, and I especially liked how she compares it against what OpenAI is doing.
- MBlume 8y ago
  She's actually the one who broke the story https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-cancels-ai-ethics-board https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-... Not sure why the Reuters follow-up made the front page instead.
- Symmetry 8y ago
  Kelsey is frankly one of the best communicators I know. I was very glad to hear that she became a journalist because I've been a fan of her Tumblr[1] for years. [1]https://theunitofcaring.tumblr.com/ https://theunitofcaring.tumblr.com/
  - Mirioron 8y ago
    I read her piece on the AlphaStar StarCraft 2 match and it was quite wrong. Even the basic idea that the AI crushed pro gamers while being more limited than humans was completely wrong. Anybody that has played the game even a bit saw that the AI did things that are physically impossible to do for a human. So, I'm not so sure about being one of the best communicators.
telltruth 8y ago
Interestingly everyone who hasn't done anything technical but wants to ride AI train chooses to become "AI Ethics" person these days. You can look up vast number of these AI ethics "experts" giving talks on this subject without ever having trained a model for anything. So apparently the bar for this "field" is zero experience in anything technical but great ability to hold a microphone and induce FUD in public.
- deviomi 8y ago
  Do you need to be a nuclear physicist to have opinions on ethics of nuclear weapons?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - goatlover 8y ago
    Nope, and it seems like nuclear physicists back in the day could have used some stronger opinions on the ethics of making nuclear weapons.
    - physicsyogi 8y ago
      During WWII, Germany was also trying to build the bomb. All things considered, it's probably better that the Manhattan Project beat them to it.
      - goatlover 8y ago
        Sure, but it didn't stop there.
  - telltruth 8y ago
    You can have opinion on anything without knowing anything. This is what forums like this is about :). But if you want to give an informed opinion, you do need to understand the tech. For example, how do you decide what restrictions to put in export of nuclear power tech if you have no clue how it can be re-purposed to make a bomb?
scarejunba 8y ago
Let me be honest: every single candidate for the role has a past like this. They're all weird. Because the whole field is a bunch of people who are experts in a field which has no differentiation in expertise. It's a charlatan field.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
BeetleB 8y ago
>She doesn't have any background in tech. She doesn't have any prior writing or research related to AI. No background in the other topics that come up - surveillance, data privacy, international security. What about all the other board members?
- tzs 8y ago
  Here are their descriptions from Google's initial announcement: • Alessandro Acquisti, a leading behavioral economist and privacy researcher. He’s a Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University and the PwC William W. Cooper Professor of Risk and Regulatory Innovation. • Bubacarr Bah, an expert in applied and computational mathematics. He’s a Senior Researcher, designated the German Research Chair of Mathematics with specialization in Data Science, at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) South Africa and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Stellenbosch University. • De Kai, a leading researcher in natural language processing, music technology and machine learning. He’s Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Distinguished Research Scholar at Berkeley's International Computer Science Institute. • Dyan Gibbens, an expert in industrial engineering and unmanned systems. She’s CEO of Trumbull, a Forbes Top 25 veteran-founded startup focused on automation, data and environmental resilience in energy and defense. • Joanna Bryson, an expert in psychology and AI, and a longtime leader in AI ethics. She’s an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath. She has consulted for a number of companies on AI, notably at LEGO researching child-oriented programming techniques for the product that became LEGO Mindstorms. • Kay Coles James, a public policy expert with extensive experience working at the local, state and federal levels of government. She’s currently President of The Heritage Foundation, focusing on free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom and national defense. • Luciano Floridi, a leading philosopher and expert in digital ethics. He’s Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, where he directs the Digital Ethics Lab of the Oxford Internet Institute, Professorial Fellow of Exeter College and Turing Fellow and Chair of the Data Ethics Group of the Alan Turing Institute. • William Joseph Burns, a foreign policy expert and diplomat. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state, and retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 33-year diplomatic career. He’s currently President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States.

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

Agreed, thank you very much for posting. I don't know who Kelsey Piper is, but I feel it's exceedingly rare when I read something on Twitter that makes me come away feeling like I learned something at a deeper level. I'd encourage other folks to read the whole thread. It's not really mainly about Kay Cole James, more about how the whole panel looked like simply a PR exercise from the start, and I especially liked how she compares it against what OpenAI is doing.

MBlume 8y ago
She's actually the one who broke the story https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-cancels-ai-ethics-board https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-... Not sure why the Reuters follow-up made the front page instead.
Symmetry 8y ago
Kelsey is frankly one of the best communicators I know. I was very glad to hear that she became a journalist because I've been a fan of her Tumblr[1] for years. [1]https://theunitofcaring.tumblr.com/ https://theunitofcaring.tumblr.com/
- Mirioron 8y ago
  I read her piece on the AlphaStar StarCraft 2 match and it was quite wrong. Even the basic idea that the AI crushed pro gamers while being more limited than humans was completely wrong. Anybody that has played the game even a bit saw that the AI did things that are physically impossible to do for a human. So, I'm not so sure about being one of the best communicators.

telltruth 8y ago

Interestingly everyone who hasn't done anything technical but wants to ride AI train chooses to become "AI Ethics" person these days. You can look up vast number of these AI ethics "experts" giving talks on this subject without ever having trained a model for anything. So apparently the bar for this "field" is zero experience in anything technical but great ability to hold a microphone and induce FUD in public.

deviomi 8y ago
Do you need to be a nuclear physicist to have opinions on ethics of nuclear weapons?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- goatlover 8y ago
  Nope, and it seems like nuclear physicists back in the day could have used some stronger opinions on the ethics of making nuclear weapons.
  - physicsyogi 8y ago
    During WWII, Germany was also trying to build the bomb. All things considered, it's probably better that the Manhattan Project beat them to it.
    - goatlover 8y ago
      Sure, but it didn't stop there.
- telltruth 8y ago
  You can have opinion on anything without knowing anything. This is what forums like this is about :). But if you want to give an informed opinion, you do need to understand the tech. For example, how do you decide what restrictions to put in export of nuclear power tech if you have no clue how it can be re-purposed to make a bomb?

scarejunba 8y ago

Let me be honest: every single candidate for the role has a past like this. They're all weird. Because the whole field is a bunch of people who are experts in a field which has no differentiation in expertise. It's a charlatan field.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

BeetleB 8y ago

>She doesn't have any background in tech. She doesn't have any prior writing or research related to AI. No background in the other topics that come up - surveillance, data privacy, international security. What about all the other board members?

tzs 8y ago
Here are their descriptions from Google's initial announcement: • Alessandro Acquisti, a leading behavioral economist and privacy researcher. He’s a Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University and the PwC William W. Cooper Professor of Risk and Regulatory Innovation. • Bubacarr Bah, an expert in applied and computational mathematics. He’s a Senior Researcher, designated the German Research Chair of Mathematics with specialization in Data Science, at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) South Africa and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Stellenbosch University. • De Kai, a leading researcher in natural language processing, music technology and machine learning. He’s Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Distinguished Research Scholar at Berkeley's International Computer Science Institute. • Dyan Gibbens, an expert in industrial engineering and unmanned systems. She’s CEO of Trumbull, a Forbes Top 25 veteran-founded startup focused on automation, data and environmental resilience in energy and defense. • Joanna Bryson, an expert in psychology and AI, and a longtime leader in AI ethics. She’s an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath. She has consulted for a number of companies on AI, notably at LEGO researching child-oriented programming techniques for the product that became LEGO Mindstorms. • Kay Coles James, a public policy expert with extensive experience working at the local, state and federal levels of government. She’s currently President of The Heritage Foundation, focusing on free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom and national defense. • Luciano Floridi, a leading philosopher and expert in digital ethics. He’s Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, where he directs the Digital Ethics Lab of the Oxford Internet Institute, Professorial Fellow of Exeter College and Turing Fellow and Chair of the Data Ethics Group of the Alan Turing Institute. • William Joseph Burns, a foreign policy expert and diplomat. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state, and retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 33-year diplomatic career. He’s currently President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States.