A group of current and former employees from prominent artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind, have issued an open letter calling for increased transparency and protections for whistleblowers within the AI industry.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during the Google I/O Developers Conference in Mountain View, California, US, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThe letter calls for a “right to warn about artificial intelligence” and asks for a commitment to four principles around transparency and accountability.
The employees emphasize the importance of their role in holding AI companies accountable to the public, given the lack of effective government oversight. They argue that broad confidentiality agreements block them from voicing their concerns, except to the very companies that may be failing to address these issues.
OpenAI defended its practices in a statement, saying that it had avenues such as a tipline to report issues at the company and that it did not release new technology until there were appropriate safeguards.