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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

#481

Post by nunya213 »

ipsin wrote: post #77
strooper wrote: post #58

I don't see anything wrong for a company of a particular country helping their military. GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi and all tech giants of that era did that with pride during WWII. Then why can't Google, Facebook for USA? Perhaps the illusion of globalization is making us perceive Google, Facebook and other international giants as global companies. Although, geniuses from around the world have significant contributions…

I have this queasy feeling that the U.S. is killing people who aren't actually taking up arms against it. If doing so shaves a few percent off the error rate that's saving innocent lives, but it's also becoming an essential part of a process that kills innocent people? I'd prefer standing against the slaughter.

You should change your reference point, assuming drone warfare is coming and is not banned in some way who would you rather be the world leader in that space? Alibaba and China or Google and the US?

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

#482

Post by nunya213 »

Bartweiss wrote: post #414
kinsomo wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Drone strikes, as they are used, are a more evil way of taking out identified targets of other nationalities. I find the concept of a nation state summarily assassinating people a bit troubling, but drone strikes make it even worse by making it imprecise and cheap. There's no significant difference between a drone-strike and a conventional airstrike by a manned aircraft, at lest when it comes to targeting, precisio…

> There's no significant difference between a drone-strike and a conventional airstrike by a manned aircraft, at lest when it comes to targeting, precision, etc. But there's a significant difference in the sense that drones are the only way these strikes are conducted. Manned strikes would be more risky, since they expose a pilot, and less practical because manned aircraft can't be "parked" over a target for anywhere…

Sounds like your issue is with the current political system not with drones. Direct your anger to the appropriate places.

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

#483

Post by nunya213 »

blackrock wrote: post #98
strooper wrote: post #58

I don't see anything wrong for a company of a particular country helping their military. GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi and all tech giants of that era did that with pride during WWII. Then why can't Google, Facebook for USA? Perhaps the illusion of globalization is making us perceive Google, Facebook and other international giants as global companies. Although, geniuses from around the world have significant contributions…

Because it is a conflict of interest. The public has put their trust into Google for 20 years. We supported them. We cheered them on. We have voluntarily given them all our personal data. Our emails. Our instant messages. Our voices. All of it feeds into their massive database for them to mine. We put our faith into them, in the hopes that they would honor their creed, that they would do no evil. But gradually, that…

Boy you've bought into the Silicon Valley delusion fully haven't you. Lol, so many people on HN are shockingly ignorant of anything outside of their Uber-Liberal SWE bubble.

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

#484

Post by 086421357909764 »

confounded wrote: post #137
aetherson wrote: post #23

I think that the leaked emails show that one or two execs within Google expressed the optimistic case for the eventual revenue leading from the project. That's how projects happen in companies. Some employee gets excited about the potential of the project and writes emails talking about all the huge numbers that project will post. Most of those emails are wrong. Maven may be wrong at any price or size. But Google's c…

Oh, military contracts always wrap up on time at the projected cost :)

Military, Federal, State govt. and even corporations all have dreaded over runs. It's bad all around.

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

#485

Post by refurb »

3131s wrote: post #152
ipsin wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have this queasy feeling that the U.S. is killing people who aren't actually taking up arms against it. If doing so shaves a few percent off the error rate that's saving innocent lives, but it's also becoming an essential part of a process that kills innocent people? I'd prefer standing against the slaughter.

It is fact, not a feeling. How many of the roughly 1 million people dead in the last 15 years of the "War of Terror" ever directly attacked the US or US citizens?

ever directly attacked the US or US citizens?

Why do you draw the line at "directly attacked"? We have laws that make it a crime to conspire to murder. I don't think it's unreasonable to go after people who are conspiring to attack the US or US citizens.

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

#486

Post by refurb »

candiodari wrote: post #465
discordance wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think WW2 and the "wars" of the last 20 years are a fair comparison. The recent wars are highly controversial and this is clearly recognised and protested by people working in SV.

The outcome of wars determines how protests are seen. Do you think there were no large protests against attacking the Nazis in WWII ? Anti-war people are anti-war. They have as little concept of just wars versus unjust wars as the people they accuse of warmongery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_World_War_II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrhjmT4Zg5I

Thanks for calling this out.

There was fierce opposition to getting involved in all the wars that we now look back on as "just" - WW2 is the best example.

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

#487

Post by Regardsyjc »

ChristianBundy wrote: post #340
barrkel wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believe the only reason American civilians like us have been able to enjoy peace is because we dropped a ton of bombs to blast tiny countries out of the sky This is completely ludicrous. There is no military threat to the US beyond nukes. Nuclear weapons have obsoleted wars between great powers. Tiny countries are zero threat to the USA. They cannot invade; they can do almost nothing. At best, they can kill a few…

Thank you for putting this into words. It's sad to see how effective the US propaganda efforts have been in convincing otherwise intelligent people that the military is "defending our freedom". I'd love to see how many millions (billions?) the federal government has pumped into this myth. Hell, the entire America's Army initiative was literally a recruitment tool for kids who played video games. It's depressing to th…

I'd love to learn more about the history of American military and foreign policy if you have any recommendations.

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

#488

Post by Regardsyjc »

barrkel wrote: post #319
Regardsyjc wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I believe the only reason American civilians like us have been able to enjoy peace is because we dropped a ton of bombs to blast tiny countries out of the sky and we also have a history of fighting wars not to win, but not to lose. If Americans are willing to sacrifice their people and resources for a tiny country in the middle of nowhere, imagine what they would do to you if you attacked them or their inter…

> I believe the only reason American civilians like us have been able to enjoy peace is because we dropped a ton of bombs to blast tiny countries out of the sky This is completely ludicrous. There is no military threat to the US beyond nukes. Nuclear weapons have obsoleted wars between great powers. Tiny countries are zero threat to the USA. They cannot invade; they can do almost nothing. At best, they can kill a few…

I'd love to learn more about the history of American military and foreign policy if you have any recommendations.

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

#489

Post by Kalium »

ipsin wrote: post #77
strooper wrote: post #58

I don't see anything wrong for a company of a particular country helping their military. GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi and all tech giants of that era did that with pride during WWII. Then why can't Google, Facebook for USA? Perhaps the illusion of globalization is making us perceive Google, Facebook and other international giants as global companies. Although, geniuses from around the world have significant contributions…

I have this queasy feeling that the U.S. is killing people who aren't actually taking up arms against it. If doing so shaves a few percent off the error rate that's saving innocent lives, but it's also becoming an essential part of a process that kills innocent people? I'd prefer standing against the slaughter.

You can stand against opiod addiction and the lives it has taken, working to abolish them completely. Or you can work to reduce the harm it does.

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

#490

Post by wilsonnb »

hollerith wrote: post #461
wilsonnb wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of whether Google works with the US military on this, or if another company works with the US military on this, or if NO outside company works with the US military on this, or even if the US military doesn't work on it at all, autonomous AI powered weapons are happening anyways. We can't put them back in the box. The prosperity that technology brings us comes with a cost. Weaponizing technology will always…

The US's developing them -- and especially the US's being the first to develop them -- makes it at least slightly more likely that Russia and China will develop them.

My point was that Russia and China (and France, the UK, and many other nations) are going to develop them anyways, regardless of whether the US develops them.

Anyone who likes living in a world where the US has military superiority over Russia and China (and every other nation) should support the US military, Google, and any other US company developing these weapons.

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