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Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

theintercept.com

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Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#11

Post by mtgx »

calibas wrote: post #3

Is my moral compass off, or does war profiteering completely violate the whole "don't be evil" thing?

Good thing they removed all mentions of that from their workers' code of conduct then, no? They really dodged a bullet there (get it?)

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/google-dont-be-evil/

Moral compass out of sight, out of mind, is probably what the leadership must have been thinking, especially after the recent protest against Maven from a few thousand employees (which seems to have resulted only in the leadership trying to appease them by promising some secret bullshit "ethics rules")

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#12

Post by cornstalks »

vanake wrote: post #8
calibas wrote: post #3

Is my moral compass off, or does war profiteering completely violate the whole "don't be evil" thing?

that is why they removed it from Google’s Code of Conduct

It wasn’t removed. It was moved towards the end. You’re welcome to have an opinion on that if you want, but let’s be accurate and honest about it and stop spreading the incorrect claim it was removed.

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#13

Post by kibwen »

hazz99 wrote: post #9
calibas wrote: post #3

Is my moral compass off, or does war profiteering completely violate the whole "don't be evil" thing?

They removed that clause recently, I believe.

"Google Removes 'Don't Be Evil' Clause From Its Code of Conduct": https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do...

"“Don’t be evil” has been part of the company’s corporate code of conduct since 2000. When Google was reorganized under a new parent company, Alphabet, in 2015, Alphabet assumed a slightly adjusted version of the motto, “do the right thing.” However, Google retained its original “don’t be evil” language until [late April or early May 2018]. [...] The updated version of Google’s code of conduct still retains one reference to the company’s unofficial motto—the final line of the document is still: “And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!”"

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#15

Post by jonnybgood »

kibwen wrote: post #6
AmericanChopper wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess that depends on whether you view either profit or war as intrinsically evil.

It's whether one views the intersection of profit and war as intrinsically evil, which for most people is a resounding yes. Humans are already good enough at killing and causing misery for each other without adding additional economic incentives into the mix.

But what if the US military wants to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage as much as possible and wants technology developed to do so?

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#18

Post by AmericanChopper »

swampthinker wrote: post #7
AmericanChopper wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess that depends on whether you view either profit or war as intrinsically evil.

War will always be evil, it's usually just about whether it is a necessary evil.

I think that’s a very oversimplified opinion. Depending on the alternative, war can certainly be the moral decision. I don’t think you’d find many would who would describe The Unions war on slavery as Evil.

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#19

Post by mtgx »

AmericanChopper wrote: post #4
calibas wrote: post #3

Is my moral compass off, or does war profiteering completely violate the whole "don't be evil" thing?

I guess that depends on whether you view either profit or war as intrinsically evil.

Was IBM's providing of tech to the Nazis to kill Jewish people more effectively neutral or intrinsically evil?

I try to avoid comparisons to the Nazis (even though many more people seem to be doing it these days with Trump in power), but isn't Google basically providing the government the technology to more effectively kill people in the Middle East, too? That's what it is at the end of the day, isn't it?

History will remember Google for this - especially when its technology will be used for some horrifying stuff in the future (and it will be). Right now we haven't even seen its true consequences yet, so it's easy for some to dismiss it as no big deal.

Re: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially

#20

Post by TAForObvReasons »

killjoywashere wrote: post #10
calibas wrote: post #3

Is my moral compass off, or does war profiteering completely violate the whole "don't be evil" thing?

[deleted]

You are talking besides the point. War != "War Profiteering". You can believe war is unavoidable and still find excess profiting from war morally repugnant
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