Google, which has spearheaded much of the research underpinning today’s AI advancements, recently launched its AI chatbot, Bard, to the public despite internal criticism that it was a “pathological liar” and gave advice that could lead to injury or death. The company had pledged to double its team studying the ethics of AI, but the launch of OpenAI’s chatbot sent Google scrambling to weave generative AI into its products in a matter of months, potentially sacrificing its ethical commitments. Current and former workers at the company have reported that the ethics team is now disempowered and demoralised, and have been told not to get in the way of the development of generative AI.
