With Strings Attached

@rachelcoldicutt notes that "Google Docs new grammar suggestion tool doesn’t like the word 'funding' and prefers 'investment' ".

Many business people have an accounting mindset, in which all expenditure must be justified in terms of benefit to the organization, measured in financial terms. When they hear the word "investment", they hold their breath until they hear the word "return".

So when Big Tech funds the debate on AI ethics (Oscar Williams, New Statesman, 6 June 2019), can we infer that Big Tech sees this as an "investment", to which it is entitled to a return or payback?



Related post: The Game of Wits Between Technologists and Ethics Professors (June 2019)