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Rosalind Picard, co-founder and chief scientist of Empatica Inc., during the Forbes Healthcare Summit in New York, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. The summit will cover topics including ChatGPT's capabilities, advanced technology to treat the whole person, recent breakthroughs in biopharma, and the role of human compassion and empathy in the system. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NeurIPS Keynote Speaker Apologizes for Reference to Chinese Student
A controversy has erupted at the annual NeurIPS AI conference after a keynote speaker, MIT Media Lab Professor Rosalind Picard, faced criticism for referencing a Chinese student in her presentation. The incident has sparked outrage and debate among attendees and the broader tech community.
During her talk on “How to Optimize What Matters Most,” Prof. Picard included a slide quoting an excuse given by a supposedly expelled Chinese student who allegedly claimed that no one taught them morals or values at their university. Many have taken to social media platforms, such as X, to express their dismay and disbelief over the incident.
The controversy surrounding Picard’s remarks was further fueled when Google DeepMind scientist Jiao Sun shared a photo of the slide, accompanied by a comment implying that removing racial bias from AI systems is far more challenging than eliminating it from human interactions. Research scientist Yuandong Tian at Meta reposted this comment and expressed his disbelief over how such an explicit form of racial bias could occur in NeurIPS.
Following the presentation, conference organizers took swift action to address the issue by posting an apology statement on their platform. They emphasized that they do not condone or align with Picard’s reference to the student’s nationality and reiterated their commitment to inclusivity and diversity within the AI community.
Source: techcrunch.com
