It’s an all-too-common story. One that can massively differentiate a business and accelerate growth against its competitors: A company uncovers a new opportunity based on science or technology and seeks to capitalize on it. Investors rush in to fund it, and we all wait to see what happens.
With all the hype surrounding the topic, you might think I’m writing about Generative AI. While companies are rushing to test the technology, both research and resources are available for companies to implement it responsibly. Understanding that Governance models are as important as the Generative AI models themselves is critical.
Not quite. This time, I’m writing not about digital brains but about our physical bodies.
There are always lessons to learn from the past, but ESG lessons are difficult to find because the term is recent, and many of those cases haven’t been revisited yet. Today, we’ll paint a line of stakeholder risk at the intersection of Governance with two companies a century apart.
One hundred years ago, the world saw the promise of radium to help people see in the dark and as a potential ‘cure-all’ for various ailments. With the advancements in science, the risks of radium are now well understood.
Today, digital technology underpins our businesses and lives, and its integration is growing. Not all integrations are the services and experiences that Generative AI will bring; some have direct physical implications. New human-computer interfaces, like those from Neuralink, can potentially help those with paralysis control the physical and digital world. Without knowing the dangers, how might we uncover risks?
It’s an important question to ask when dealing with the effect of a company and its products on people.
At the foundation of a company’s ambition sit its stakeholders and another familiar story: the American Dream. Today, it’s fair to say that while America is unique, many of us want to experience the fulfillment of life and rewarding work, no matter where we live.
For those with power and influence, the sacrifice in chasing their ambitions is often non-existent. For those without, this ideal isn’t equitably accessible, leading many to sacrifice in its pursuit.
Radium Girls
This past weekend, my two oldest appeared in their high school’s production of “Radium Girls.” If you aren’t familiar with the story, I recommend reading The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore.
NOTE: My kids have read this book, but I have yet to.
Here’s a bit of the story.
In 1906, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky immigrated to the US in search of the American Dream. Within a few years, he co-invented a radioluminescent paint based on radium. He founded a company to support its mainstream application. The company was turned over to Arthur Roeder and became the US Radium Company. From the 1910s through the 1920s, the US Radium Company ran factories in several locations in the US, chasing its vision of the American Dream.
The company hired teenage girls to paint the dials of watches so they would glow, mostly so American soldiers could see the time, a noble and patriotic effort. Only the girls’ delicate hands could work so quickly and deftly. Unfortunately, the women were left unprotected from the harmful radium, even putting the brushes into their mouths to bring the tips to a fine point, tragically swallowing bits of radium as they worked.
As the women began to get severely ill and die, pressure grew around the company. Roeder doctored reports about the women’s health and sent them to the New Jersey Department of Labor, casting doubt on the effect of radium.
Five brave women - Grace Fryer, Edna Hussman, Albina Larice, Quinta McDonald, and Katherine Schaub brought a lawsuit against the company. Ultimately, the women settled, received compensation, and the factories were closed. Von Sochocky also passed from the effects of radium and is now known as one of the few people killed by their invention.
US labor laws later changed as a result, extending the protection of employees from occupational diseases while extending the statute of limitations, which was only two years at the time. The US Radium Company attempted to exploit this two-year limit by delaying the trial.
The play is indeed poignant, as is the history. It was rumored that one of the first girls to die, Amelia Maggia, died from syphilis. An autopsy five years after she passed showed her bones were still radioactive. As a note, radium has a half-life of 1600 years.
For our purposes, ESG issues can be found throughout the themes of the Social injustice wrought by poor Governance in the pursuit of opportunity around a looming Environmental matter.
A Neuralink to the Past
Towards the end of the play, Roeder’s daughter laments her father’s regret and states that he could not have understood the problem at the time. She comments on how better modern science is as she lights up a cigarette.
While many Radium Girls never received compensation, information on Roeder is a little hard to come by. Like many CEOs today who escape accountability (go read up on glass cliffs), he appears to have continued in leadership positions like VP, President, and Board roles through 1945.
All of these American Dreams were chased but ended with different results, and they still hold lessons for us a century later.
At its most basic level, capitalism relies on extracting labor and environmental value beyond what you are producing and selling. The Radium Girls’ story is no different, but the surrounding tragedy and lack of ethical leadership extended the damage.
The echoes from the 1920s are turning into a klaxon in 2023. This past May, the FDA approved the first human clinical trials for Neuralink, a company co-founded and promoted by Elon Musk, whose mission is:
Create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.
This is achieved through direct interfaces to the brain using an implant and a procedure conducted by a surgical robot, which coincidentally is used for a similar reason why teenage girls were chosen to paint watch dials. From Neuralink’s home page (Surgical Robot section):
The threads of our implant are so fine that they can't be inserted by the human hand. Our surgical robot has been designed to reliably and efficiently insert these threads exactly where they need to be.
And so teenage girls have given way to robots, but I’m sure they don’t mind in this case. Back to Generative AI for a minute, there is no intangible or theoretical AI with the potential of mass job displacement or other Social harm (which Musk has warned about). Instead, we have a medical procedure with new equipment on people that ties directly to one of the most sensitive organs in the body.
Shortly after the FDA approval for human clinical trials this past spring, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a statement of concern about the company and its practices, including:
Safety concerns around the sloppiness of employees
The implant itself, including the lithium in the battery and tiny wires that could migrate to other areas of the brain
The painful and deadly experiments on animals that were conducted
Unlike the case of the Radium Girls, where managers denied radium was the issue, no one is telling prospective patients that the clinical trials are outright safe. There is no safety information on Neuralink’s website or information about their Corporate Governance practices. Per a blog post from September, the clinical trial “aims to evaluate the safety of our implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1) and assess the initial functionality of our BCI for enabling people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts.”
Helping to give people with paralysis digital and physical mobility is a worthy cause and opportunity, as was painting watch dials for American soldiers. However, in both cases, stakeholders may not have enough information to make an informed decision, which is where Governance comes in.
Governance and the related principles that dictate a company’s operational and ethical practices are critical to protecting stakeholders from harm. Since no direct data is available, we must turn to public sources to glean what is happening at companies where Musk has a hand.
After taking over Twitter, the Compliance and Safety teams were culled.
Tesla has had several high-profile issues, including not cooperating with an NHTSA investigation of autopilot, pollution fines, and allegations of racial discrimination in its Fremont plant.
SpaceX has ignored government agencies directly (go read ESG Hound’s blog for more on their intersection with safety and regulations).
It isn’t a giant leap to question the trust one should place in Neuralink since Musk is engaged in their public announcements. Without clear Governance principles transparently published or practical examples, we are left with these connections and stories to determine how business risks are weighed against other concerns when he is involved.
Yet, despite these examples, thousands of people have signed up for the opportunity to participate in Neuralink’s clinical trials. While artificial brains might cause concern, we must be careful with our physical brains and the hype around the medical promises being delivered. As with the Radium Girls, Governance is our guidepost. Quality Governance is the evidence needed beyond a commitment that “We’ll significantly exceed the FDA guidelines for safety. We will make this as safe as possible.”
There appears to be little to no accountability, especially for Musk, as he either holds no management position at Neuralink (per a 2018 SEC document) or is a Co-CEO (per a Techcrunch article). It’s critical to note that both documents covering his connections to the company are controversies tied to his related Governance practices. One for securities fraud with Tesla and the other about secretly having children with a Neuralink executive, respectively.
After watching Radium Girls, the question I have for potential patients is this:
Whose dream are you chasing, and at what cost?
Resources
Deadly occupation, forged report | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
How the ‘Radium Girls’ Helped Shape American Labor Laws | HistoryNet
The Radium Girls: A Tale of Workplace Safety
Neuralink: Elon Musk's brain chip firm wins US approval for human study - BBC News