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I appreciate you sharing this @le_roux_nicolas! I knew this to be the case despite never having worked at Google. I even know some researchers go with the "ask for forgiveness, not permission" route.
Inconsistent application of rules is a powerful weapon. 1/6 https://twitter.com/le_roux_nicolas/status/1334601960972906496
Inconsistent application of rules is a powerful weapon. 1/6 https://twitter.com/le_roux_nicolas/status/1334601960972906496
It was clear to me mid-way through grad school that I can't do the kind of work I'd like at places like Google. My 3rd year, I backed out of a Google internship. It was a hard decision and one that was met with severe skepticism by many in my dept. 2/6
Later, once I hit my stride as a researcher, I got another recruiting note to which I responded with a "please remove me from all your recruiting lists." They asked for feedback on why and I obliged. 3/6
What is going on right now is terrible. But, I hope it is also an opportunity to have open conversations about whether there's any place for ethical AI research within corporations that are incentivized to do the exact opposite. 4/6
As academics, I hope we also reflect more critically on what doors we open for our students. In grad school, I tried hard to do internships in the public sector, but neither I nor my faculty mentors had good connections, while there were many pathways to big tech internships. 5/6
Today, I get to work with many in NGOs and policy. They are eager to work with CS students and many students are excited about these opportunities too. And yet, unis don't facilitate these kinds of matches in the same way as they would for Google. We need to change this. 6/6
