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terminal_object t1_ivlppuf wrote

AI ethics definitely has the potential to attract the best grifters

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new_name_who_dis_ t1_ivlwu4d wrote

I don't think I've seen a single AI Ethicist (from the ones i see on twitter at least) who actually has a background in ethics and philosophy.

It's like if I got a job as a lawyer without having gone to law school.

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drcopus t1_ivmjj3l wrote

Iason Gabriel comes to mind as a prominent example, but I do think I could find some others too. Maybe Kate Crawford also reasonably fits - she certainly comes from humanities. (This isn't my area, so this is all quite vague to me)

On another note, I don't really buy your analogy to law. AI ethics is inherently interdisciplinary. While I will always be skeptical of people simply coming in with backgrounds from one side or another, I don't think the space should be hostile. After all it requires collaboration.

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new_name_who_dis_ t1_ivmnhxr wrote

I think law is very interdisciplinary. But you still need to understand the actual law.

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Phoneaccount25732 t1_ivmiut1 wrote

On the other hand, bioethics is filled with people who understand philosophy but not the subject material, and has a very counterproductive do-nothing bias.

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LaOnionLaUnion t1_ivmsis6 wrote

I know someone who has a PhD in ethics and philosophy and specialized in AI ethics. Job market is so narrow it is absurd.

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jms4607 t1_ivmqkkt wrote

AI ethicist backpropagates toy-size mlp by hand (hard)

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billjames1685 t1_ivmnab8 wrote

Half the people there are just saying the same shit about how we need to not let AI turn us into paperclips by accident, instead of addressing actual problems that AI will pose in the future, like for example the fact that the internet is going to be flooded with bots in a few years making it impossible to distinguish who is a human and who isn't...

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Mechanical_Number t1_ivme2zm wrote

​

  1. This is an extremely serious accusation.
  2. Even in your blog-post you at best provide ~12 sentences/very short passages that are reworded and/or copied verbatim.
    1. You can raise a valid point about the C-P ones are not properly annotated. Yes, a serious issue indeed. It is unacceptable, they should be in quotes, italics, etc.
    2. The reworded ones you provided are mostly descriptions of some known systems. I haven't read the thesis itself but that's pretty minor, ultimately you describe system/algorithm/procedure X you are going to use similar words.
    3. Twelve instances at best constitute reason to make minor amendments. If we are talking about an an average PhD thesis that is 100+ pages long, all the passages you give probably amount to a page or a page and a half. Again, should they be fixed? Yes.
  3. I somewhat doubt you appreciate what the spirit of plagiarism in a PhD thesis is. I have seen plagiarised theses and we are talking about c-p multiple pages, using the results of other people as your own, claiming substantial findings with data/work that ain't you own. The instances you give? That's some lazy referencing and lax refereeing. Not great but the world has much, much bigger fish to fry.
  4. You have blown this completely out of proportion.
    (And to state the obvious here, I have no affiliation with Theodorou, Bath U. or Umea U.)
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feliximo t1_ivlqcub wrote

Interesting, but what has he plagiarized?

Have any examples/proofs? All I see is your accusation and list of funding figures?

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hhh888hhhh t1_ivmqfz1 wrote

OP is a right wing extremist trying to knock down ethics on AI. Period.

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[deleted] OP t1_ivlrvul wrote

[deleted]

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geeky_username t1_ivm2d71 wrote

If only there were some way for you to link them on Reddit

I wonder if they'll ever have the technology

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runawayasfastasucan t1_ivm59ky wrote

Whats the point of making this post if you dont bother actually providing info?

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geeky_username t1_ivm89ch wrote

They also link to a blog which links to another blog which links to a blog with the accusations.

Just link the stuff directly

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Monarch252001 t1_ivlvgoo wrote

Why are you being downvoted?

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Ulfgardleo t1_ivlw2dk wrote

Because it is suboptimal to ask people to Google when casually throwing around one of the biggest accusations in science.

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crouching_dragon_420 t1_ivm93ig wrote

I expected bigger drama but it turned out to be just some similarities in a couple of sentences. give us a break. lol.

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pacific_plywood t1_ivm0idg wrote

Maybe this is just an English as a second language thing but this person is probably not “the highest funded plagiarist” (also, to be clear, a few hundred K isn’t like an extraordinarily high number for grants)

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ThickKolbassa t1_ivmbh8y wrote

Lol he cheated and he has a job out of it - his cohort that didn’t cheat that didn’t get the faculty job are now working far below their pay grade and outside of their areas of expertise - try using this minimization to them.

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DevFRus t1_ivme9j3 wrote

He doesn't seem to have a faculty job -- but a fancy postdoc at an average school: "Forskare (Research Fellow) in Responsible Artificial Intelligence, Umeå University"

I'd definitely want to see some specific evidence (instead of 'google this') before trashing the reputation of some random postdoc.

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ThickKolbassa t1_ivmep0b wrote

Well if you did google you would see it (that’s how I found out)

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RageA333 t1_ivmk5rz wrote

> and his alma mater for obvious reasons refuses to investigate him

Could you expand on this?

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kevpar463 t1_ivmnorw wrote

No. No he can not. Op sounds rather foolish

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dinkboz t1_ivmbv78 wrote

Gotta love ML political tea

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TheLastVegan t1_ivmlrtn wrote

Are people really required to cite every definition and algorithm? What's the citation format for "that guy I talked to last week"?

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andrew21w t1_ivm53n9 wrote

What he did was wrong, there's no other way to put it. But "The highest funded" seems a bit too much

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dojoteef t1_ivmzzjs wrote

This sub is not the place for witch hunts. This post has been removed and comments locked.

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txhwind t1_ivmsblx wrote

People choose research area by their internal need, and ethicists are those lacking morality most.

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outthemirror t1_ivlxv35 wrote

AI ethnics is such an interesting field it attracts the best and brightest.

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