Business Ethics

The Ethical Dilemmas of Google

Google AI researcher’s abrupt exit sparkes ethics, bias concerns.

November 11, 2022

 Contents

Exclusive summary......................................................................3

1.Introduction................................................................................3

2.Individual Level..........................................................................3

3.Organizational Level..................................................................4

4.Corporate Social Level..............................................................6

5.Conclusion.................................................................................7

6.Recommendations.....................................................................7

References.....................................................................................8
Exclusive summary

AI ethics, also known as "moral philosophy", is systematic thinking and research on the
human moral life. Google has seven principles at the core of its AI development, one of
which is to avoid creating or reinforcing unfair biases. Racial discrimination refers to a
person's contempt, dislike, and rejection of races other than the race to which he/she
belongs, and it is shown in speech and behavior. The purpose of this report is to analyze
the moral issues in Google's dismissal of Gebru from the perspective of business ethics
and to analyze Google at individual, organizational and social levels based on relevant
moral theories. At the individual level, the immorality of Google's racial discrimination
against employees is analyzed using care theory, Kant's theory, and utilitarianism. At the
organizational level, this paper analyzes the long-term impact of egoism and illustrates
the immorality of this event by combining three aspects of Kant's theory. Finally, using
utilitarianism and externalities, the unethical result of racial discrimination and covering
up technical errors leads to the victimization of Google's stakeholders. In short, Google's
racial discrimination and related behavior are unethical on all three levels. Google should
reflect on its behavior and make corrections. At the end of the report, relevant
recommendations are given to improve Google's sense of responsibility and prevent the
recurrence of racial discrimination.

1.Introduction

In the international business environment, there are still many unethical problems such
as racial discrimination and gender discrimination (Davies 2015). There is a lot of
statistical data showing that American institutions treat citizens very differently based on
race (Peggy 2018). With the continuous development of economic globalization and
international trade, the social responsibility and business ethics of enterprises, especially
multinational enterprises, are becoming more and more important. Firstly, this paper
takes Google's dismissal of black female employees as an example and analyzes it from
three levels: individual, organization, and stakeholder. Then, the ethical theory of
business ethics is used to further analyze the moral problems brought by the behavior of
enterprises and their influence. Finally, some recommendations on the negative effects of
these moral problems are put forward.
2.Individual Level

Gebru announced on Twitter that she had been fired, and Google told employees she
was fired. More than 1,200 Google employees signed an open letter calling the
incident "unprecedented research scrutiny" and accusing the company of racist and
defensive behavior (The Economic Times 2020). Racial discrimination refers to
making unfavorable decisions based on negative attitudes toward people of different
races and national backgrounds. The following two theories demonstrate the
immorality of the event at the individual level.

On the one hand, we can look at ethic of care theory, which relies on female traits such
as caring for others and selflessness (Shaw 2021). Google's racist inclusivity is not only
detrimental to the personal well-being of its employees, but it also puts off potential
applicants who are deeply skeptical of Google's "Don't be evil" motto. Gebru's departure
raises questions about the diversity and inclusion of Black Rising companies that fail to
deliver justice and equity. When racial identity is questioned, reasonable people feel that
their rights are not being cared for and that there is no morality to live in harmony. The
right thing to do is that Google should establish a committee of prosecutors to
supervise and deal with and punish unfair racial discrimination promptly.

On the other hand, we can illustrate the immorality of this event from a utilitarian point of
view. Utilitarianism means being oriented to the largest number of stakeholders (Shaw
2021). Google believes white people work better than black people, so they hire fewer
black people to maximize the company's profits. Google's philosophy emphasizes so-
called utilitarianism, but they ignore the value of black people in the workplace, leading to
discrimination and prejudice and causing dissatisfaction among employees, especially
black employees. Google failed to recognize the personal work value of black employees
and denied their ability, which seriously damaged employees' confidence.

All in all, from a personal point of view, Google's racist discrimination against
employees is immoral behavior.

3.Organizational Level

Next, we judge Google's firing of black employees from an organizational perspective.

First, the use of egoistic theory, which holds that only long-term benefits are moral and
use self-interest as a guide to action. When we apply the theory, we first consider who is
the moral agent. Then we identify possible consequences, both positive and negative for
moral agents and compare the good and bad results.
In this case, we see google as a moral agent. Gebru was fired for articles questioning the
harm of AI to society and the racist nature of facial recognition because it would harm
Google's AI development and the company's interests. The good result of firing Gebru is
that it defends the authority of the management and the interests of the company, which
is good in the short term. However, in the long run, the internal discontent caused by
Gebru's firing, and the open letter Gebru signed to expose and accuse Google of racial
discrimination, will damage Google's corporate image and cause a crisis of public
confidence in the company. According to Daboul (2020), corporate image is positively
correlated with corporate earnings, and damage to the corporate image is not conducive
to the long-term development of enterprises. Therefore, the negative news caused by
racial discrimination is likely to make the public lose confidence in Google, further
damage the corporate image, and harm the long-term interests and development of the
company. Maintaining goodwill and corporate image has a greater impact on the long-
term development of ethical subjects than maintaining management authority. Since the
negative consequences "outweigh" the positive consequences, Google's behavior is
unethical.

Secondly, we use the theory of Kant, Kant believed that our actions are not judged by the
quality of the outcome, and proposed three moral principles: First, the categorical
imperative, that is, the unconditional universality of moral theory. Second, you can't use
people as a means to an end and you shouldn't use humanity. Third, goodwill, that is, our
actions have moral value only if we act out of a sense of responsibility (Timmons 2021).

Using the first principle above, Google firing a black female employee as a general law is
not acceptable to reasonable people. Reasonable people don't want to be treated unfairly
because of their skin color or race. Although understandably, some people think they are
treated differently in the workplace because of their race, they will no longer approve if
they are treated differently in the workplace because of the color of their skin.

Using the second principle, Google does not respect the personal interests of its
employees. Gebru has contributed to the development of artificial intelligence, promoting
black development in the field. But Google hired her only to use her expertise to advance
the company's technology and profit. When Gebru, who is black, threatened to touch the
company's interests, Google ruthlessly fired her and did not treat her with the same
respect as white employees.

Using the third principle, black employees are fired not out of duty, but to protect the
dignity of top management and the interests of the company (the Economic Times 2020).
Google firing black employees immediately after Gebru raised legitimate questions
shows bias against black employees. This ignores her contribution to the company and
society and does not give her the respect she deserves, so Google ignores humanity and
does not act out of sound morality.
Therefore, Google's actions do not conform to the above three principles, so such
behavior is unethical.

4.Corporate Social Level

Corporate social responsibility is the practice of going beyond legal obligations to actively
balance commitments to investors, customers, other companies, and communities
(Özturan & Grinstein 2022). Companies are therefore obliged to consider not only the
group interests of internal stakeholders but the group interests of external stakeholders.
In this section, we will conduct an ethical analysis from the perspective of external
stakeholders, including investors in Google, the entire Internet industry, and consumers.

Haida refers to externalities as unintended negative (or in some cases positive)

consequences that an economic transaction between two parties may have on certain
third parties (2022, p.469). Firstly, Gebru's questions were not only not addressed and
responded to by Google, but she was instead fired by Google, which was Mired in a
scandal of racial discrimination that deeply troubled the investors related to Google.
Google's reputation has been tarnished and its stock price has been volatile
(GOOGL•NASDAQ 2020), which will hurt the company's shareholders. Secondly, black
scientists have also made a lot of contributions in the frontier area of the Internet, and the
unequal treatment of Gebru has also caused resentment among black scientists. This will
make many practitioners question the diversity and inclusion of the tech industry, which is
detrimental to the long-term growth of the industry. Finally, the company's practices also
hurt consumers. Gebru pointed out that the technology had a racist flaw, but that Google
was pursuing its interests by trying to suppress the idea rather than improve it. If the
technology is fully applied to the market and used by consumers, the rights and interests
of consumers will be violated.

The utilitarian theory proposes that an action is only moral if it brings the greatest benefit
to most people (Phillips 2022). Google’s dismissal of Gebru, who is black, for the good of
the company has shaken the status of black scientists in the technology field and
seriously affected the normal work of other black employees. In addition, the public
raised questions about Google's racial discrimination and unscrupulous methods, which
further caused public dissatisfaction. Not only that, but Google's attempts to cover up
technical errors for its own benefit have seriously harmed consumers. The affair was
exposed, and investors suffered a loss of profits.

Therefore, from the perspective of externality theory and utilitarianism, Google's

dismissal of Gebru not only harms Gebru's interests but harms other stakeholders, which
is unethical business practice.
5.Conclusion

This report uses Google as an example and studies the business ethics issues caused
by Google's dismissal of black female employees from three different levels: individuals,
organizations, and stakeholders. By applying the theories of care theory, Kant's theory,
categorical theory, egoism, and utilitarianism, this report proves that racial discrimination
against employees is contrary to the social ethical views of individuals, organizations,
and stakeholders today. Additionally, the report finds that reducing unfair behaviors in the
work environment, and treating and respecting every employee equally is the
embodiment of enterprises taking the initiative to assume social responsibility, which is
conducive to promoting the cultivation of diversified talents in the industry and promoting
the better development of enterprises and society.

6.Recommendations

1. Google should set up an inspection body or investigation team to regularly check

whether there is racial or gender discrimination in the work environment and collect
information about various unfair phenomena. If such unfairness is found, it should be
punished immediately.
2. The company will set up an anti-discrimination column, and conduct regular staff
training, publicizing the concept of equality and caring for others to create a good
corporate atmosphere and establish a moral corporate culture.
3. From the perspective of business ethics, enterprises should take the initiative to
assume social responsibilities, respect employees of every race, and promote the
cultivation of diversified talents in the industry.
4. Google should think about other external stakeholders, such as its shareholders and
consumers, not just itself. Before planning, the person in charge should think rationally
and weigh the pros and cons.
5. As a leader in the Internet industry, Google always keeps in mind to create high-quality
products for users around the world. The product must not contain technical errors or
racist errors.
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