I have noticed a shift in the corporate America recently. Moving away from the unapologetic defense of profit making of the late 20th century, corporations are now asking deeper questions on the purpose of their enterprises. Consider how businesses presented themselves in the Super Bowl broadcast this year. Verizon focused on first-responders life-saving work, Microsoft touted its video-game platform for children with disabilities and the Washington Post paid tribute to recently killed journalists. Big business wants to convince us they also have a big heart.
This does not mean that profit is secondary. As long as there is a stock market and earning expectations drive corporate goals, short-term profit will continue to be king. Yet, it is important to acknowledge the change. Companies realize that customers want more than a good bargain. Instead they want to do business with organizations that are doing meaningful work. Moreover, Companies are realizing they are not just autonomous entities but social actors that must contribute to the common good.
Google AI Research Review of 2018
Following this trend, Google AI Review of 2018 focused on how its research is impacting the world for good. The story is impressive, as it reach encompasses many fields of both philanthropy, the environment and technological breakthroughs. I encourage you to look at it for yourself.
Let me just highlight a few developments that are worth mentioning here. The first one is the development of AI ethical principles. In it, Google promise to develop technologies that are beneficial to society, tested for safety and accountable to people. The company also promises to keep privacy embedded in design, uphold highest levels of scientific excellence while also limiting harmful potential uses of their technology. In the latter, they promise to apply a cost-benefit analysis to ensure the risks of harmful uses does not outweigh its benefits.
In the last section, the company explicitly states applications they will not pursue. These include weapons, surveillance and or those that oppose accepted international law and human rights. That last point, I must admit, is quite vague and open to interpretation. With that said, the fact that Google published these principles to the public shows that they recognize their responsibility to uphold the common good.
Furthermore, the company showcases some interesting examples of using AI for social good. The example includes work on flood and earthquake prediction, identifying whales and diseased cassavas and even detecting exoplanets. The company has also allocated over $25M in funds for external social impact work through its foundation.
A Good Start But is that Enough?
In a previous blog, I mentioned how the private sector drives the US AI strategy . This approach definitely raises concerns as profit-ventures may not always align with the public good in their research goals. However, it is encouraging to see a leader in the industry doing serious ethical reflection and engaging in social work.
Yet, Google must do more to fully recognize the role its technologies play in our global society. For one, Google must do a better job in understanding its impact in local economies. While its technologies empower small businesses and individual actors in remote areas, it also upends existing industries and established enterprises. Is Google paying attention to those in the losing side of its technologies? If so, how are they planning to help them re-invent themselves?
Furthermore, if Google is to exemplify a business with a social conscience does it have appropriate feedback channels for its billions of customers? Given its size and monopoly of the search engine industry, can it really be kept accountable on its own? The company should not only strive for transparency in its practice but also listen to its customers more attentively.
Technology, Business and Society
The relationship between business and society is being revolutionized through the advance of emerging technologies such as AI. In the example of Google, being the search engine leader makes them the primary knowledge gate-keeper for the Internet. As humans come to rely more on the Internet as an extension of their brain, this places Google in a role equivalent to what religious, educational and political leaders played in the past. This is too important a function to be centralized in one profit-making organization.
To be fair, this was not a compulsory process. It is not that Google took over our brains by force, we willingly gave them this power. Therefore, change is contingent not only in the corporation but in its customers. From a practical standpoint, that may mean skipping that urge to “google things”. We might try different search engines or even crack open a book to seek the information we need. We should also seek alternative ways to finding things in the Internet. That may mean looking at resource sites, social platforms and other alternatives. These efforts may at first make life more complicated but over the long run it will safeguard us from an inordinate dependence on a company.
The technologies developed by Google are a blessing (albeit one that we pay for) to the world. We should leverage them for human flourishing regardless of the company’s intended focus. For that to happen, we the people, must take stock of our own interaction with them . The more responsibly we use it, the more we insure that they remain what they are really meant to be: gifts to humanity.
