Google AI Technology Bans Usage on Weapons, Other Harmful Tech

Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai announced that AI technology of Google will no longer be used in any activities involving ammunition.

He wrote the announcement in an internet post and specified that this new policy was one of the “principles.”

These principles are set of ethical guidelines which will help to guide the company’s AI technology in the future. They also cover the development sales and tools of the company’s AI technology.

Google will not design or launch its AI tech for weapons or other technologies that may cause harm to people.

With respect to “internationally accepted norms,” Google’s AI technology will not permit its usage on surveillance activities.

As per Pichai, “we believe these principles are the right foundation for our company and the future development of AI.”

More than 4,000 Google employees signed the document calling the company’s AI technology cancelation with the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Project Maven involves the use of Google’s AI technology to test U.S. military’s drone images.

Meanwhile, a meeting between Google and military officials is likely to happen. They will discuss the project’s completion without violation of its new principles.

The director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California is Kirk Hanson. The center examines the use of ethics in guiding technology department.

Google employees opposed the said project because of concerns that it could lead to the creation of “autonomous weapons.”

“If you have artificial intelligence which identifies targets and automatically launches weapons, you have what is known as an autonomous weapon — there is no human decision to launch the weapon,” Hanson said.

Moreover, Hanson also said that other companies could feel pressure from public or employees. This is unless if the usage of their A.I. technology will serve to develop autonomous weapons.

“We should be more concerned about how an autonomous weapon might make a mistake. Is that artificial intelligence targeting system as good as we think it is? And until we have trust that those systems will not make mistakes, we’re going to have a lot of doubts about the use of artificial intelligence,” he said.

Google enters college search space

Paved its way to Job Search Space last year, Google is now entering the college search space.

It announced a new search feature that could provide necessary information to college students regarding cost, admission, student life and more.

Google Product Manager Jacob Schonberg believes that this could shape Google’s current work on education information.

“Picking a college is an important life decision that involves extensive research, and we view this new search experience as a tool with which students can begin their search and understand the opportunities available to them. We encourage prospective students to also check other sources for more detailed information and first-person discussions about colleges,” Schonberg said.

Sean Gallagher is the founder and executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for the future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy. However, he called the announcement was notable but he is unconfident that this could overhaul the college search process.

“[Google is] a major tech company that’s beginning to provide more information with data on prospective college options, but I believe LinkedIn and some other firms have more of a business around it,” Gallagher said.