Ethics and Society Newsletter #5: Hugging Face Goes To Washington and Other Summer 2023 Musings
meg
One of the most important things to know about “ethics” in AI is that it has to do with **values**. Ethics doesn’t tell you what’s right or wrong, it provides a vocabulary of values – transparency, safety, justice – and frameworks to prioritize among them. This summer, we were able to take our understanding of values in AI to legislators in the E.U., U.K., and U.S., to help shape the future of AI regulation. This is where ethics shines: helping carve out a path forward when laws are not yet in place.

In keeping with Hugging Face’s core values of *openness* and *accountability*, we are sharing a collection of what we’ve said and done here.  This includes our CEO [Clem](https://huggingface.co/clem)’s [testimony to U.S. Congress](https://twitter.com/ClementDelangue/status/1673348676478025730) and [statements at the U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum](https://twitter.com/ClementDelangue/status/1702095553503412732); our advice on the [E.U. AI Act](https://huggingface.co/blog/eu-ai-act-oss); our [comments to the NTIA on AI Accountability](https://huggingface.co/blog/policy-ntia-rfc); and our Chief Ethics Scientist [Meg](https://huggingface.co/meg)’s [comments to the Democratic Caucus](assets/164_ethics-soc-5/meg_dem_caucus.pdf). Common to many of these discussions were questions about why openness in AI can be beneficial, and we share a collection of our answers to this question [here](assets/164_ethics-soc-5/why_open.md).

In keeping with our core value of *democratization*, we have also spent a lot of time speaking publicly, and have been privileged to speak with journalists in order to help explain what’s happening in the world of AI right now. This includes:
- Comments from [Sasha](https://huggingface.co/sasha) on **AI’s energy use and carbon emissions** ([The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/08/ai-carbon-emissions-data-centers/675094/), [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/01/techscape-environment-cost-ai-artificial-intelligence), ([twice](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jun/08/artificial-intelligence-industry-boom-environment-toll)), [New Scientist](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2381859-shifting-where-data-is-processed-for-ai-can-reduce-environmental-harm/), [The Weather Network](https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/causes/how-energy-intensive-are-ai-apps-like-chatgpt), the [Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-technology-energy-a3a1a8a7), ([twice](https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-can-make-companies-greener-but-it-also-guzzles-energy-7c7b678))), as well as penning part of a [Wall Street Journal op-ed on the topic](https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-technology-energy-a3a1a8a7); thoughts on **AI doomsday risk** ([Bloomberg](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ai-doomsday-scenarios-are-gaining-traction-in-silicon-valley-1.1945116), [The Times](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ai-but-were-afraid-to-ask-g0q8sq7zv), [Futurism](https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-expert-were-all-going-to-die), [Sky News](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Auq9mYxFEE)); details on **bias in generative AI** ([Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-generative-ai-bias/), [NBC](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/tool-reducing-asian-influence-ai-generated-art-rcna89086), [Vox](https://www.vox.com/technology/23738987/racism-ai-automated-bias-discrimination-algorithm)); addressing how **marginalized workers create the data for AI** ([The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ai-data-gig-workers/), [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/07/ai-chatbot-human-evaluator-feedback/674805/)); highlighting effects of **sexism in AI** ([VICE](https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5ywp7/you-know-what-to-do-boys-sexist-app-lets-men-rate-ai-generated-women)); and providing insights in MIT Technology Review on [AI text detection](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/07/1075982/ai-text-detection-tools-are-really-easy-to-fool/), [open model releases](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/18/1076479/metas-latest-ai-model-is-free-for-all/), and [AI transparency](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/25/1076698/its-high-time-for-more-ai-transparency/).
- Comments from [Nathan](https://huggingface.co/natolambert) on the state of the art on **language models and open releases** ([WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/metas-open-source-llama-upsets-the-ai-horse-race/), [VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/business/todays-ai-is-not-science-its-alchemy-what-that-means-and-why-that-matters-the-ai-beat/), [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-openai-moat-in-ai-wars-llama2-shrinking-2023-7), [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2023/07/18/meta-llama-2-ai-open-source-700-million-mau/)).
- Comments from [Meg](https://huggingface.co/meg) on **AI and misinformation** ([CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/17/tech/ai-generated-election-misinformation-social-media/index.html), [al Jazeera](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuLOUzU8P0c), [the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/magazine/wikipedia-ai-chatgpt.html)); the need for **just handling of artists’ work** in AI ([Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/16/ai-programs-training-lawsuits-fair-use/)); advancements in **generative AI** and their relationship to the greater good ([Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/20/openai-dall-e-image-generator/), [VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/ai/generative-ai-secret-sauce-data-scraping-under-attack/)); how **journalists can better shape the evolution of AI** with their reporting ([CJR](https://www.cjr.org/analysis/how-to-report-better-on-artificial-intelligence.php)); as well as explaining the fundamental statistical concept of **perplexity** in AI ([Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/07/why-ai-detectors-think-the-us-constitution-was-written-by-ai/)); and highlighting patterns of **sexism** ([Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/90952272/chuck-schumer-ai-insight-forum)).
- Comments from [Irene](https://huggingface.co/irenesolaiman) on understanding the **regulatory landscape of AI** ([MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/09/11/1079244/what-to-know-congress-ai-insight-forum-meeting/),  [Barron’s](https://www.barrons.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-chips-technology-stocks-roundtable-74b256fd)).
- Comments from [Yacine](https://huggingface.co/yjernite) on **open source and AI legislation** ([VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/ai/hugging-face-github-and-more-unite-to-defend-open-source-in-eu-ai-legislation/), [TIME](https://time.com/6308604/meta-ai-access-open-source/)) as well as **copyright issues** ([VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/ai/potential-supreme-court-clash-looms-over-copyright-issues-in-generative-ai-training-data/)).
- Comments from [Giada](https://huggingface.co/giadap) on the concepts of **AI “singularity”** ([Popular Mechanics](https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/security/a43929371/ai-singularity-dangers/)) and **AI “sentience”** ([RFI](https://www.rfi.fr/fr/technologies/20230612-pol%C3%A9mique-l-intelligence-artificielle-ange-ou-d%C3%A9mon), [Radio France](https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/le-temps-du-debat/l-intelligence-artificielle-est-elle-un-nouvel-humanisme-9822329)); thoughts on **the perils of artificial romance** ([Analytics India Magazine](https://analyticsindiamag.com/the-perils-of-artificial-romance/)); and explaining **value alignment** ([The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/ai-alignment-cant-be-solved-as-openai-says/article67063877.ece)).

Some of our talks released this summer include [Giada](https://huggingface.co/giadap)’s [TED presentation on whether “ethical” generative AI is possible](https://youtu.be/NreFQFKahxw?si=49UoQeEw5IyRSRo7) (the automatic English translation subtitles are great!); [Yacine](https://huggingface.co/yjernite)’s presentations on [Ethics in Tech](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1viaOjX4M1m0bydZB0DcpW5pSAgK1m1CPPtTZz7zsZnE/) at the [Markkula Center for Applied Ethics](https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/) and [Responsible Openness](https://www.youtube.com/live/75OBTMu5UEc?feature=shared&t=10140) at the [Workshop on Responsible and Open Foundation Models](https://sites.google.com/view/open-foundation-models); [Katie](https://huggingface.co/katielink)’s chat about [generative AI in health](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u-PQyM_mvE); and [Meg](https://huggingface.co/meg)’s presentation for [London Data Week](https://www.turing.ac.uk/events/london-data-week) on [Building Better AI in the Open](https://london.sciencegallery.com/blog/watch-again-building-better-ai-in-the-open).

Of course, we have also made progress on our regular work (our “work work”). The fundamental value of *approachability* has emerged across our work, as we've focused on how to shape AI in a way that’s informed by society and human values, where everyone feels welcome. This includes [a new course on AI audio](https://huggingface.co/learn/audio-course/) from [Maria](https://huggingface.co/MariaK) and others; a resource from [Katie](https://huggingface.co/katielink) on [Open Access clinical language models](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7107077224758923266/); a tutorial from [Nazneen](https://huggingface.co/nazneen) and others on [Responsible Generative AI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn0Z_glYJ90&list=PLXA0IWa3BpHnrfGY39YxPYFvssnwD8awg&index=13&t=1s); our FAccT papers on [The Gradient of Generative AI Release](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3593013.3593981) ([video](https://youtu.be/8_-QTw8ugas?si=RG-NO1v3SaAMgMRQ)) and [Articulation of Ethical Charters, Legal Tools, and Technical Documentation in ML](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3593013.3594002) ([video](https://youtu.be/ild63NtxTpI?si=jPlIBAL6WLtTHUwt)); as well as workshops on [Mapping the Risk Surface of Text-to-Image AI with a participatory, cross-disciplinary approach](https://avidml.org/events/tti2023/) and [Assessing the Impacts of Generative AI Systems Across Modalities and Society](https://facctconference.org/2023/acceptedcraft#modal) ([video](https://youtu.be/yJMlK7PSHyI?si=UKDkTFEIQ_rIbqhd)). 

We have also moved forward with our goals of *fairness* and *justice* with [bias and harm testing](https://huggingface.co/HuggingFaceM4/idefics-80b-instruct#bias-risks-and-limitations), recently applied to the new Hugging Face multimodal model [IDEFICS](https://huggingface.co/HuggingFaceM4/idefics-80b-instruct). We've worked on how to operationalize *transparency* responsibly, including [updating our Content Policy](https://huggingface.co/blog/content-guidelines-update) (spearheaded by [Giada](https://huggingface.co/giadap)). We've advanced our support of language *diversity* on the Hub by [using machine learning to improve metadata](https://huggingface.co/blog/huggy-lingo) (spearheaded by [Daniel](https://huggingface.co/davanstrien)), and our support of *rigour* in AI by [adding more descriptive statistics to datasets](https://twitter.com/polinaeterna/status/1707447966355563000) (spearheaded by [Polina](https://huggingface.co/polinaeterna)) to foster a better understanding of what AI learns and how it can be evaluated.

Drawing from our experiences this past season, we now provide a collection of many of the resources at Hugging Face that are particularly useful in current AI ethics discourse right now, available here: [https://huggingface.co/society-ethics](https://huggingface.co/society-ethics). 

Finally, we have been surprised and delighted by public recognition for many of the society & ethics regulars, including both [Irene](https://www.technologyreview.com/innovator/irene-solaiman/) and [Sasha](https://www.technologyreview.com/innovator/sasha-luccioni/) being selected in [MIT’s 35 Innovators under 35](https://www.technologyreview.com/innovators-under-35/artificial-intelligence-2023/) (Hugging Face makes up ¼ of the AI 35 under 35!); [Meg](https://huggingface.co/meg) being included in lists of influential AI innovators ([WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-humans-trying-to-keep-us-safe-from-ai/), [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2023/06/13/meet-top-ai-innovators-impact-on-business-society-chatgpt-deepmind-stability/)); and [Meg](https://huggingface.co/meg) and [Clem](https://huggingface.co/clem)’s selection in [TIME’s 100 under 100 in AI](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/).  We are also very sad to say goodbye to our colleague [Nathan](https://huggingface.co/natolambert), who has been instrumental in our work connecting ethics to reinforcement learning for AI systems. As his parting gift, he has provided further details on the [challenges of operationalizing ethical AI in RLHF](https://www.interconnects.ai/p/operationalizing-responsible-rlhf).

Thank you for reading!

\-\- Meg, on behalf of the [Ethics & Society regulars](https://huggingface.co/spaces/society-ethics/about) at Hugging Face