Close to a dozen employees at Google Inc. have apparently quit their jobs in protest over a project in which the company is providing the U.S. Department of Defense with artificial intelligence.

In March, several employees at Google said they were outraged about the project, some stating that it was a contradiction of its onetime motto, “Don’t be evil.” The company’s present corporate code of conduct is now “Do the right thing,” something many employees Google believe it’s not doing.

In April, thousands of Google staff signed a letter asking the company to pull out of “Project Maven,” which involves supplying machine learning technology to the DoD to help identify and flag images for human review from thousands of hours of drone footage taken in Iraq and Syria.

Google countered, saying the technology was nonoffensive, although that doesn’t seem to have placated the disgruntled employees who want no part in war-related projects. It might not help Google’s defense that the DoD has stated that one day wars will be won with algorithms.

According to Gizmodo, which spoke with some of the departing employees, Google has not taken their objections seriously. Some of them said that it is humans, not AI, who should be doing the work in matters of war.

More than government regulation or bad press, the strongest force to reform Big Tech will be employee activism. Attracting and retaining the best talent is a real business incentive. When employees organize, management will be forced to listen. https://t.co/IC8WJTZZRN

— Simone Stolzoff (@SimoneStolzoff) May 14, 2018

“It’s not like Google is this little machine-learning startup that’s trying to find clients in different industries,” said one of the resigning employees. “It just seems like it makes sense for Google and Google’s reputation to stay out of that.”

Google did say in April that input from staff relating to the project was “hugely important and beneficial” and said that policies and safeguards would be written regarding AI and military projects. That hasn’t happened yet, prompting some employees to suggest Google revise its ethics.

“Actions speak louder than words, and that’s a standard I hold myself to as well,” another resigning employee told Gizmodo. “I wasn’t happy just voicing my concerns internally. The strongest possible statement I could take against this was to leave.”

More than 90 academics and researchers have joined the chorus of criticism, signing an open letter on Monday against Google’s part in weaponizing AI.

“We are also deeply concerned about the possible integration of Google’s data on people’s everyday lives with military surveillance data, and its combined application to targeted killing,” said the letter. “Google has moved into military work without subjecting itself to public debate or deliberation, either domestically or internationally.”

Google has yet to issue a statement relating to the latest avalanche of censure.

Image:  Adrian Libotean via Flickr