The NeurIPS keynote speaker apologizes for the reference to the Chinese student

A speaker at the annual NeurIPS AI conference has received criticism – not for his views on AI, but for the way he spoke to a Chinese student.

During her keynote address “How to do what matters most,” Professor Rosalind Picard of the MIT Media Lab (pictured above) included a slide quoting an excuse given by a “Chinese student who has been expelled from a top university” for using AI. The student is said to have said, “There is no In my school you taught us morals or values.”

The slide also includes a note from Picard saying, “Most Chinese I know are honest and well behaved.”

Google DeepMind scientist Jiao Sun shared a photo of the slide on X, writing, “Reducing racism in LLMs is much easier than removing it from people!” Yuandong Tian, ​​a research scientist at Meta, echoed Sun’s comments and added, “This is blatant discrimination. How is this possible in NeurIPS?”

In Q&A footage also shared on X, an attendee noted that this was the only time anyone’s nationality was referenced in Picard’s presentation, suggested it was “a little offensive,” and urged him to remove the reference when he presents again. – a suggestion Picard seemed to agree with.

After the speech, the organizers of NeurIPS sent an apology, writing, “We want to address the views expressed during the invited speech this afternoon, as it is something that NeurIPS does not encourage and does not comply with our code of conduct. We discuss this matter directly with the speaker. NeurIPS is dedicated to being a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone is treated equally.”

Picard also apologized in a statement where he expressed “regret” for mentioning the student’s nationality.

“I realize that this was unnecessary, irrelevant to the point I was making, and caused an unintended negative encounter,” Picard wrote. “I am sorry for doing this and I am very sorry for the grief caused by this incident. I learn from this experience, and I welcome ideas on how to try to improve the situation in society.”