Time for Amazon to divest this division into a wholly owned subsidiary!
Yeah, but Facebook's software could contain tagged data of actual people.
Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
11–20 of 128 posts
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#12I think this kind of “don’t sell technology x to governments” is kind of misguided for the following reasons.
1) You are saying that you are from be with private entities having access to this technology, but not public entities? Private individuals and companies should be able to use facial recognition, but not governments? Throughout history, governments have typically been the first ones to acquire tech. Of note is that the major Airplane companies (Boeing and Airbus) have very large military units.
2) It is likely to be ineffective. All you need is a third company that serves as the bridge that buys facial recognition from Amazon and resells to the government.
3) International relationships really are a competition. I am sure Chinese AI companies are working hand in glove with the government to make sure their government is able to deploy the latest AI tech. If AI is the gamechanger people say it is, you have given an incredible leg up to China vs the West.
4) If employees at companies keep on pushing this anti-government, anti-military thing with AI, there is a good chance that it will get reclassified as a sensitive technology and heavily regulated.
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty soon, they'll have to move to outright scowling at at Jeff Bezos!
Or a tweet. That is how most official communication is handled these days, right?
Is there something wrong with this? Email, fax, phones, telegrams, snail mail, etc. Everything was the new weird thing at one point in time.
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#14A much more accurate title would be "19 Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments." They even wrote a sternly worded letter!
> They even wrote a sternly worded letter Privately delivered to Amazon by the ACLU. Until one of the signatories, who is also a major Amazon shareholder, goes public with their disgruntlement this should merit no further attention.
CNN[1] says that it is "Nearly 20 groups of Amazon shareholders ... which include the Social Equity Group and Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment."
[1] http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/18/technology/amazon-facial-rec...
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#15I think this kind of “don’t sell technology x to governments” is kind of misguided for the following reasons. 1) You are saying that you are from be with private entities having access to this technology, but not public entities? Private individuals and companies should be able to use facial recognition, but not governments? Throughout history, governments have typically been the first ones to acquire tech. Of note i…
> 3) International relationships really are a competition. I am sure Chinese AI companies are working hand in glove with the government to make sure their government is able to deploy the latest AI tech. If AI is the gamechanger people say it is, you have given an incredible leg up to China vs the West.
I think this is a really important point, here.
I think the paranoid line of thinking is helpful in this instance:
Who benefits from the US government not having access to AI technologies?
- The argument on the face of it seems to be that we, the people of this world and in the US, benefit thanks to keeping these tools out of our government's hands
- The unmentioned argument is benefits go to China, Russia, and other countries whose tech sectors cooperate with the government
I am not suggesting that the article was written by China or Russia to hurt our government - that certainly sounds like "conspiracy theory"; however, I am suggesting that it is a valid concern that the US as a country may want to "keep up".
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#16Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#17I think this kind of “don’t sell technology x to governments” is kind of misguided for the following reasons. 1) You are saying that you are from be with private entities having access to this technology, but not public entities? Private individuals and companies should be able to use facial recognition, but not governments? Throughout history, governments have typically been the first ones to acquire tech. Of note i…
> 4) If employees at companies keep on pushing this anti-government, anti-military thing with AI, there is a good chance that it will get reclassified as a sensitive technology and heavily regulated.
The US Government will build/spur/prompt the next Googles and Amazons by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital into new companies, targeting whatever tech they want to see exist. They had a large role to play in making just about every major tech company in the US possible. They'll simply keep on with it. Google, Amazon, etc will have the US Government as an aggressive direct competitor as they hand the latest DARPA tech and In-Q-Tel funding to the next Googles. It won't get reclassified and heavily regulated, the next company will jump at the opportunity to ride the US Government money spigot to billions in riches.
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or a tweet. That is how most official communication is handled these days, right?
Is there something wrong with this? Email, fax, phones, telegrams, snail mail, etc. Everything was the new weird thing at one point in time.
Tweets have the side effect of being public. Sometimes that becomes the main effect. Emails and the rest of your examples don't have that property.
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#19I don't think it matters. Third parties are going to be in this space anyway (Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and the foreign defense contractors) so it doesn't make a lot of sense to shut off a profitable segment.
I was just thinking how much I would like an facial recognition API for my home security system. That way I can give someone's name to the police to make it easier to track someone down.
Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there something wrong with this? Email, fax, phones, telegrams, snail mail, etc. Everything was the new weird thing at one point in time.
Tweets have the side effect of being public. Sometimes that becomes the main effect. Emails and the rest of your examples don't have that property.
Transparency!