NeurIPS keynote speaker apologizes for referring to a Chinese student

A speaker at the annual NeurIPS AI conference has drawn criticism – not for her opinions on AI, but for the way she referred to a Chinese student.

During her keynote presentation on “How to Optimize What Matters,” MIT Media Lab Professor Rosalind Picard (pictured above) included a slide in which she gave an excuse from a “Chinese student who is now expelled from the top university ” for the use of AI One student reportedly said, “No one at my school taught us morals or values.”

The slide also includes a note from Picard that says, “Most Chinese people I know are honest and morally upright.”

Google DeepMind scientist Jiao Sun posted a photo of the slide on Yuandong Tian, ​​a research scientist at Meta, reposted Sun’s comment and added: “This is explicit racial bias. How could this happen in NeurIPS?”

In question-and-answer footage, which also featured – a suggestion that Picard apparently agreed to.

Following the talk, NeurIPS organizers apologized and wrote: “We would like to address the comment made during this afternoon’s invited talk as NeurIPS does not endorse it and is not consistent with our Code of Conduct.” We are discussing this issue directly with the speaker. NeurIPS is committed to being a diverse and inclusive place where everyone is treated equally.”

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

“I recognize that this was unnecessary, irrelevant to my point of view, and unintentionally created negative associations,” Picard wrote. “I apologize and feel very sad for the distress this incident has caused. I learn from this experience and welcome ideas on how I can try to make amends in the community.”