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> Cynthia Yeung, an industry veteran who spent five years at Google, put it bluntly: "Maybe the trade-off should be more clearly spelled out so researchers can
by almost_usual 6y ago
> Cynthia Yeung, an industry veteran who spent five years at Google, put it bluntly: "Maybe the trade-off should be more clearly spelled out so researchers can make informed decisions before they accept a job offer: You get paid academic salaries in exchange for intellectual freedom, and you get paid Silicon Valley salaries in exchange for allowing your name/likeness to be used for brand/PR purposes and your research to be censored arbitrarily."
That seems like common sense.
- xyzzyz 6y agoSadly, there is no intellectual freedom in academic world either. These days, the only way to intellectual freedom left is anonymity, and even then you have to be careful to not be doxed by New York Times.
- waihtis 6y agoThere is intellectual freedom if you have enough cash in the bank to last you a lifetime. Then, feel free to offend anyone with your opinions as you cannot die from starvation.
- marcus_holmes 6y agoah, the "gentleman scientists" of whom we hear so much when learning scientific history.
- waihtis 6y agoNo room for gentlemen scientists when there are plethoras of people out there who will happily crucify you and negate everything you've achieved if you happen to have the slightest social dent in your image. To be untouchable be openly degenerate & filthy rich.
- Ansil849 6y ago> doxed by New York Times. Are you thinking of any specific case where the Times doxed someone for practicing intellectual freedom?
- niij 6y agohttps://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/22/nyt-is-threatening-my-safety-by-revealing-my-real-name-so-i-am-deleting-the-blog/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/22/nyt-is-threatening-my-...
- thrweor234324 6y agoMore like New Reich Times.
- dekhn 6y agothey never published any article, and he admits he was trivially de-anonymizable so I think he overstates his case.
- bra-ket 6y agothis case had nothing to do with censorship though. It was Gebru' unprofessional conduct - she gave ultimatum to her managers demanding to disclose names of the reviewers who criticized her work or she would resign, and broadcasting emails to entire team literally calling for sabotage. Her behavior fits the definition of 'toxic employee', it was unprofessional by any standard. Here is Jeff Dean's letter sent to the Google Research team with the details of what actually happened: :https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2kYWDXwhzYnq8ebVtuk9CqQqz7ScqxhSIxeYGrWjK0/preview?pru=AAABdlNwLxs*PKCOHN-Ks0PI5nFrljenMg https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2kYWDXwhzYnq8ebVtuk9CqQ...
- malcolmgreaves 6y ago> Here is Jeff Dean's letter sent to the Google Research team with the details of what actually happened: :https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2kYWDXwhzYnq8ebVtuk9CqQ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2kYWDXwhzYnq8ebVtuk9CqQ... You choose to trust the words of the man that did the firing vs. the corroborated stories of dozens of Google Brain researchers that contradict his corporate messaging. Don't take corporate's word as "what happened:" that's about as naive as taking a police's side as the "truth."
- bra-ket 6y ago>"corroborated" stories of dozens It's a "boy who cried wolf" for me. I've seen these activists promoting lies to us the entire summer of protests for completely made-up causes. I've seen them distorting facts and pushing misinformation through media. I've also seen them bullying people via social media 'witch hunts', which is happening now with Jeff Dean, Nando de Freitas and whoever stands in their way. The whole activism movement is toxic and whoever brings it to the workplace.
- amanaplanacanal 6y agoBy “these activists” you are referring to the Google brain researchers? Or somebody else?