Google Updates AI Principles, Removes Key Restrictions
Google updated its artificial intelligence (AI) Principles, a document highlighting the company’s vision around the technology, on Tuesday. The Mountain View-based tech giant earlier mentioned four application areas where it would not design or deploy AI. These included weapons and surveillance as well as technologies that cause overall harm or contravene human righ...
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Google has significantly revised its AI Principles, raising concerns about its future direction in artificial intelligence. The company, which first published its AI guidelines in 2018, has removed a key section that previously outlined areas where it would not develop or deploy AI. This section, titled "Applications we will not pursue," specifically prohibited AI development for weapons, surveillance technologies that violate international norms, technologies likely to cause overall harm, and those that contravene human rights. The removal of these explicit prohibitions suggests Google may be open to exploring these previously restricted areas.
This change, noticed on Tuesday, marks a departure from Google's long-standing public stance. An archived version of the page from just last week, available on the Wayback Machine, still contained the restricted applications. The deletion has sparked worries that Google might be considering entering the development of AI for weapons, surveillance, or other ethically problematic applications.
In a blog post addressing the update, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Google's Senior Vice President for Technology and Society, James Manyika, cited the rapid evolution of the AI field, increasing competition, and the "complex geopolitical landscape" as justifications for the revised principles. They emphasized the importance of democratic leadership in AI development, guided by values like freedom, equality, and human rights, and called for collaboration between companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values to create beneficial AI that protects people, promotes growth, and supports national security. However, the removal of the specific prohibitions has left some questioning Google's commitment to its previous ethical boundaries.
