Google’s chief decision scientist has left the company

Cassie Kozyrkov has been at Google for 10 years. Courtesy of Persona PR

Google’s main decision woman is out.

Cassie Kozyrkov, who was once the chief decision scientist for the internet company and a pioneer in the field of decision information, will work alone and on projects aimed at helping business leaders navigate the world. navigate the complex waters of artificial intelligence.

As AI becomes more powerful and pervasive across industries, Kozyrkov will launch his first LinkedIn course, publish a book, and deliver keynote speeches on how to make smart decisions. transparent. Her goal, she says, is to give leaders the tools to think about how they implement AI and to help the public hold AI decision-makers accountable for the choices that impact. to millions of people. Luck.

She worked for 10 years at Google, 5 of which was a lead decision scientist. Among her responsibilities, she has guided company leaders to make informed and responsible decisions regarding AI.

“I have always believed that the heart of Google is in the right place,” said Kozyrkov. But this is a big company, and outsiders sometimes equate her personal views with Google’s views on a subject. With her new role, she said, she won’t have to worry about how her support will impact the company she represents. Luck.

AI is going through a tremendous growth spurt, which causes anxiety about the future for some. The leading minds in the field of AI recently warned that it could destroy humanity as we know it. This moment is like an inflection point in the tech world. According to Kozyrkov, it is essential to have leaders trained in how decision-making and consumers can hold them accountable.

Kozyrkov, raised in South Africa, received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Chicago. She also holds a master’s degree in mathematical statistics from North Carolina State University and a partially completed doctorate in psychology and neuroscience from Duke University. Before joining Google, she spent 10 years as an independent data science consultant.

During Kozyrkov’s time as chief decision scientist, which began in 2018, Google’s AI division has grown significantly. CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled Duplex, an add-on to the Google Assistant that can make phone calls on behalf of users, to help schedule appointments, make restaurant reservations, and activities. other interactions. Google has made leaps and bounds in generating text, images, and videos from prompts, and is developing robots that can write their own code. It also released Bard, the major language model that competes with ChatGPT. Many of Google’s developments have raised ethical questions from employees and academics, which are no different from what is happening at other AI companies. Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Kozyrkov wouldn’t comment on the decisions she helped make at Google because of her non-disclosure agreement, but it’s not hard to think of areas where the company faces tough choices when Speaking of AI. When building Bard, Google had to decide whether to get the copyrighted information to train the AI ​​model. A lawsuit against Google in July accused the company of doing so. Google also had to decide when to release the technology to stay competitive with ChatGPT without damaging its reputation. It was criticized shortly after the publication of the Bard demo video, in which the chatbot gave the wrong answer.

Kozyrkov’s work revolves around the idea that individuals can make choices that affect many people, and that those at the top don’t necessarily have to be trained in decision-making practices. “It’s easy to see technology as autonomous,” she said. “But there are people behind that technology making very subjective decisions, with or without skills, that affect millions of lives.”

The best way to make decisions is something that humans have long struggled with and continue to evolve. Kozyrkov says there is Benjamin Franklin’s three-century-old pros/cons model, but there are also more advanced ways to answer important questions. While she’s targeting business leaders, her methods can also be used to make other important life decisions, like where to go to college or whether to go to college. get married or not.

Decision makers should ask themselves: What will make me change my mind? They should also use data, but before looking at it, set criteria for what they will do based on what the data says. This helps decision makers avoid confirmation bias or use data to confirm a view they already have. According to Kozyrkov, it is also useful to document the process of arriving at an important decision, including the information available at the time, to assess the quality of a choice after it has been made.