It is just so sad that the #NeurIPS2024 main conference ended with such a racist remark by a faculty when talking about ethics. How ironic! I also want to commend the Chinese student who spoke up right on spot. She was respectful, decent, and courageous. Her response was exemplary:... she began by acknowledging the speaker’s efforts, then gave the speaker an opportunity to clarify (though, regrettably, the speaker’s reply only reinforced her bias), and ultimately called attention to the inappropriate racial bias and offered constructive suggestions. Thank you for speaking out!show more

I feel necessary to explain the rooted multi-layer racial bias in this incident and why (Chinese) people feel uncomfortable and offended. (1) Suppose the student example is true, the statement about "nobody at my school taught us values or morals" is just an excuse given by that student and shouldn't be taken at face value. Imagine that statement is about a US school, would you believe it? BTW, how are we sure the student is not talking about MIT (the school they were attending at that time)?

(2) There is no need to associate an incident with race. It is completely unnecessary. 👇

(3) The speaker clearly knew what she was saying, as the note shows she was aware of the "inappropriateness". Yet, she proceeded with a self-justification: "Most Chinese people I know are honest and morally upright". This is the classic "I have many XXX friends, so I can’t be racist" defense. But what about the Chinese people she doesn’t know? It’s both racist and arrogant.

(4) The speaker's followup response is even worse and reinforces her bias. When the girl asked a question and provided an opportunity for the speaker to clarify, she answered with "maybe there is one, maybe they are common, who knows what."

(5) The most ironic is that the speaker, @RosalindPicard, was giving a keynote talk at #NeurIPS2024 about AI ethics as the expert in that field. It clearly violates the code of conduct of NeurIPS.

Today, we remember Reyhaneh Jabbari, a 26-year-old Iranian woman EXECUTED for defending herself against RAPE. Imagine facing death simply for saying "No"! Western women, stand with us in amplifying Reyhaneh’s voice and all women in Iran who risk everything for their dignity and rights. #ReyhanehJabbari #WomanLifeFreedom

Kudos to the girl who speak up and challenge the mit profusss..

This is an interesting case when AI is better than human expert in ethics.

I suspect that she was doing it with intentions. As a full professor at MIT, she must understand the wrongdoing of her slides. The only logical explanation is that she did not expect any confrontation as Chinese community is typically viewed as silent, soft and not outspoken. Thankfully it’s no longer true.

That Chinese girl has real courage! Thank you for posting this.