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Almost entirely, the existence of Chief Diversity Officers - and to a lesser but still prevalent extent, this "off-to-the-side" teams you mention - are just job
by pc86 4y ago
Almost entirely, the existence of Chief Diversity Officers - and to a lesser but still prevalent extent, this "off-to-the-side" teams you mention - are just jobs programs with an identity politics twist.
CDOs exist so that the "right" people can have a high-power (even if only via public perception), well-paid C-suite role. These ethics teams exist so that a group of the "right" people can level up their resumes. Instead of being a developer at a bank in Omaha you can be on the AI ethics team at a startup. Instead of being a developer at a startup you can be on the AI ethics team at a FAANG.
- jrochkind1 4y agoMore than being created to create jobs, I suspect things like ethics teams are mainly created for PR purposes, to make the company look good -- and in fact, the "product" they are expected to produce are defenses against the company looking bad, keep the actual product teams from doing things that make the company look bad. (Whether they are given the tools to succeed at this is another question, but it's not like people not given the tools to succeed at large organizations is unusual!) If an AI product makes Microsoft look really bad publicly due to something understood by the public as an ethical concern, the ethics team will be back.
- angstrom 4y agoIf it wasn’t for appearances only it would be under HR or perhaps HR would report into DEI role.
- kcplate 4y ago> More than being created to create jobs, I suspect things like ethics teams are mainly created for PR purposes, to make the company look good -- and in fact, the "product" they are expected to produce are defenses against the company looking bad Definitely are positions invented by lawyers to provide a safe harbor to minimize corporate legal and PR liabilities while those PR liabilities are burning bright among the public. Practically to the minute that the public focus on DEI is distracted to whatever the “next thing” is you will see these positions start disappearing or absorbed into HR and some new position created to satisfy the optics and create a new safe harbor for the next thing.
- Angostura 4y agoPresumably you feel the same way about - say 'Chief Security Officers' who may not own a specific team. Off-the-side offers are there to make sure that issue which have been identified as organisationally important have representation at the top table.
- TheCoelacanth 4y agoWhat kind of Chief Security Officer doesn't have a team? I would expect them to have a team that does things like security scans, pentesting, auditing, researching CVEs to find ones that might affect the company, etc.
- pc86 4y agoI'm not sure why you would presume that when CSOs (and their teams, which they absolutely do have) perform a very valid, necessary technical function.