One Ph.D. Student’s Open Letter to Microsoft
Microsoft management and shareholders,
I am a Ph.D. student studying to become a full time artificial intelligence/machine learning researcher. My first plan after getting my degree is to apply for industry researcher positions, and Microsoft is toward the top of my list. I’ve had some exciting conversations with Microsoft
recruiters and researchers at AI/ML conferences, and I believe in your research goals.
I care about AI ethics.
I understand that Microsoft is currently selling services to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) [1]. If you’re selling your services to ICE, then I can’t trust that you won’t sell AI/ML to ICE, and that’s a serious problem.
We’re already clearly seeing the application of AI/ML to state-run oppression of the entire ethnicity of Uyghurs in Xinjiang [2]. The applications of AI/ML to the systematic abuse of human rights by a government have been clearly documented [3]. Violations of AI/ML ethics are not abstract or something that we still have time to prepare for, they are happening in real ways to real people.
Human rights abuse isn’t just something that happens somewhere else. As made clearly visible from the stated and enacted policy of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency of separating children from their parents at the Southern US border, the intent to commit inhumane actions that resemble those of the Chinese government in Xinjiang is real and present [4,5].
Many of my colleagues in the academic community claim that they’re not responsible for how their creations are applied. I reject this claim entirely and wholeheartedly. My pursuit of science is not free of ethical consequences. If I help to create the tools of massive and systematic abuse, oppression, or harm, then I know who I will have become. My name will be Oppenheimer, my name will be Wernher von Braun, my name will be Fritz Haber. Regardless of their intent, the products of these brilliant scientists work have hurt so many people.
It is equal parts thrilling and terrifying to be part of the next generation of researchers pushing the limits of what technology can do. Our society is shaped today by the decisions of everyone in technology from academics to major technology companies, and I need you to demonstrate a commitment to AI/ML ethics before I contribute to your vision of the future.
-A concerned Ph.D. student
[1] Frenkel, Sheera. “Microsoft Employees Protest Work With ICE, as Tech Industry Mobilizes Over Immigration.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/technology/tech-companies-immigration-border.html.
[2] “Apartheid with Chinese Characteristics; Inside Xinjiang.” The Economist (US), 2 June 2018.
[3] Denyer, Simon. “Beijing Bets on Facial Recognition in a Big Drive for Total Surveillance.”Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/01/07/feature/in-china-facial-recognition-is-sharp-end-of-a-drive-for-total-surveillance/.
[4] Edelman, Adam. “Sessions Cites Bible in Defense of Breaking up Families, Blames Migrant Parents.” NBCNews.com, NBC Universal News Group, 14 June 2018, www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/sessions-cites-bible-defense-breaking-families-blames-migrant-parents-n883296.
[5] Wise, Justin. “Trump Admin Releases Video of Detention Center in Texas.” TheHill, The Hill, 18 June 2018, thehill.com/latino/392768-border-patrol-releases-video-of-child-detention-center-in-texas.