Google has caved to pressure from its staff and abandoned a new AI ethics panel after hundreds demanded conservative members of the board were sacked for their views.

The search giant announced last week that it was setting up a new board to tackle moral issues surrounding its use of the technology.

It hoped to avoid controversies by using a broad spectrum of expertise to inform its future decisions, but the move has ironically stirred up a debacle of its own.

Eight experts from outside the company were recruited and employees at the traditionally liberal leaning firm took issue with two of the appointees.

More than 1,000 of its protest-prone workers signed an open letter objecting to specific board members, who they say are 'anti-trans' and pro-military drones.

Earlier this week, staff insisted that Kay Coles James, president of conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, was removed from the group.

Google has now bowed to the pressure from within the firm and is dissolving the board entirely according to Vox, who first reported the news.

This is not the first time Google has caved in to the demands of its outspoken and largely left-wing staff.

It opted not to renew a contract with the US military in June 2018 following staff protests.

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Google is dissolving a council it formed a week earlier to consider ethical issues around artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies (file photo)

WHO IS KAY COLES JAMES? She is currently the president of the Heritage Foundation - the first African American woman to hold this position. She served as the director for the United States Office of Personnel Management under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005 Before that she she served as Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources. Ms James is also a member of the NASA Advisory Council and is the president and founder of the Gloucester Institute, a leadership training centre for young African Americans. Advertisement

The board, called the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC), consists of experienced industry experts who work in the field of artificial intelligence research.

Its specific focus was areas such as facial recognition software, a form of automation that has prompted concerns about racial bias and other limitations.

Kent Walker, SVP of Global Affairs at Google, said in a blog post at the time: ' Last June we announced Google’s AI Principles, an ethical charter to guide the responsible development and use of AI in our research and products.

'To complement the internal governance structure and processes that help us implement the principles, we’ve established an Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC).

'This group will consider some of Google's most complex challenges that arise under our AI Principles, like facial recognition and fairness in machine learning, providing diverse perspectives to inform our work.'

He added: 'This inaugural Council will serve over the course of 2019, holding four meetings starting in April.'

Google employees signed a petition calling for the removal of one of the members over comments about transsexual people earlier this week.

Kay Coles James, president of conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, was brought on-board to provide a different viewpoint to that of Google's left-wing staff.

Activists lashed out at Ms Cole, who was selected by the search giant for her role so the council could offer a range of backgrounds and experience, saying she is 'anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant'.

The protesters say in the open petition: 'In selecting James, Google is making clear that its version of 'ethics' values proximity to power over the wellbeing of trans people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants.'

The AI ethics board was specially curated to steer the Mountain View-based firm away from any controversies by ensuring it fully considers morality while developing its artificial intelligence (file photo)

Google staffers are known for their willingness to protest, with employees previously voicing discontent at a range of the firm's endeavours.

The inclusion of a drone company executive also raised debate over use of Google's AI for military applications.

Google has been embroiled in past controversies regarding the use of its AI, as well as the way it protects the data it gathers.

It established an internal AI ethics board in 2014 when it acquired DeepMind but this has been shrouded in secrecy with no details ever released about who it includes.

The firm is a world-leader in many aspects of AI and the eight people recruited for the advisory board were going to 'consider some of Google's most complex challenges'.

The eight-member Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) was comprised of technology experts and digital ethicists.

They included Joanna Bryson, an associate professor at the University of Bath and William Joseph Burns, former US deputy secretary of state.

A group of Google employees earlier this week attempted to remove a member of the newly-formed AI ethics board because her opinions do not match theirs. Kay Coles James, pictured here with President Donald Tump (right) is the president of a conservative think-tank

Criticism of Ms James includes her history of being 'vocally anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant'. Comments include a recent tweet, which read: 'If they can change the definition of women to include men, they can erase efforts to empower women economically, socially, and politically'

WHO WAS ON GOOGLE'S AI ETHICS BOARD? Alessandro Acquisti - s a Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University

Bubacarr Bah - Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Stellenbosch University.

De Kai - Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Dyan Gibbens - CEO of Trumbull, a Forbes Top 25 veteran-founded startup

Joanna Bryson - Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath

Kay Coles James - President of The Heritage Foundation

Luciano Floridi - Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford

William Joseph Burns - Former US deputy secretary of state Advertisement

'It's become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can't function as we wanted,' a Google spokesman said in an emailed statement.

'So we're ending the council and going back to the drawing board.'

The board had been specially curated to steer the firm away from any future controversies by ensuring it fully considers morality while developing its artificial intelligence.

Google uses AI in many high-profile forms, including its smart speaker, Google Home, and DeepMind, its specialist AI division.

Privacy concerns piqued when Google absorbed its DeepMind Health AI lab - a leading UK health technology developer last year.

The news raised concerns about the privacy of NHS patient's data which is used by DeepMind and could therefore be commercialised by Google.

DeepMind was bought by Google's parent company Alphabet for £400 million ($520m) in 2014 and had maintained independence until the acquisition in November.

But now the London-based lab shares operations with the US-based Google Health unit.

Google had also previously received criticism from the public and internal members of staff over Project Maven, a collaboration between Google and the US military to use its AI to control drones destined for enemy territory.

Google decided not to renew this contract in June 2018 following protest resignations from some employees.