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Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

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Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#21

Post by waynesonfire »

mumblemumble wrote: post #11
charcircuit wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you rather ethics be built into the process of everyone or would you rather keep it only as a team? Just because the team is gone, it doesn't mean that ethics is thrown out of the window.

But it does imply that the company's moral hazard structure has been altered in a way that may or may not result in more ethical outcomes.

I don't buy it. The moral structure doesn't change so easily. Perhaps the establishment of an ethics team was a response to an incident, and was motivated as a public relations move in that moment? Just as ethics had not changed when the team was on-boarded, the ethics won't change with its exit.

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#22

Post by epylar »

mc32 wrote: post #16
politician wrote: post #4

> Members of the team told Platformer they believed they were let go because Microsoft had become more focused on getting its AI products shipped before the competition, and was less concerned with long-term, socially responsible thinking.

You know, on the one hand, yes, they need direction. On the other hand these kinds of people are by definition leaches. Their existence hinges on this thing being an issue. So I can't feel bad for them. Now, I can see them as a volunteer advisory group. That I'm for. But I loathe seeing all kinds of "industries" pop up that are essentially leaching from businesses. Most "training" kinds of curricula and outside exper…

How do you feel about maintenance programmers, doctors, and car mechanics?

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#23

Post by nradov »

mc32 wrote: post #16
politician wrote: post #4

> Members of the team told Platformer they believed they were let go because Microsoft had become more focused on getting its AI products shipped before the competition, and was less concerned with long-term, socially responsible thinking.

You know, on the one hand, yes, they need direction. On the other hand these kinds of people are by definition leaches. Their existence hinges on this thing being an issue. So I can't feel bad for them. Now, I can see them as a volunteer advisory group. That I'm for. But I loathe seeing all kinds of "industries" pop up that are essentially leaching from businesses. Most "training" kinds of curricula and outside exper…

If a warehouse worker is going to operate a forklift then they need training to do so safely. Those trainers aren't leeches. Out in the real world beyond the software industry there are serious safety risks all over.

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#24

Post by Madmallard »

pixl97 wrote: post #17
monero-xmr wrote: post #8

If Microsoft and Google don’t release, some startup will beat them to it. Open source means raw AI will become widespread. It’s just math anyway, and you can’t stop progress.

"If I don't make the world eating machine, someone else might make the world eating machine first!" No wonder we don't see aliens filling the universe. Intelligence is its own great filter.

FUD

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#25

Post by eyelidlessness »

pixl97 wrote: post #17
monero-xmr wrote: post #8

If Microsoft and Google don’t release, some startup will beat them to it. Open source means raw AI will become widespread. It’s just math anyway, and you can’t stop progress.

"If I don't make the world eating machine, someone else might make the world eating machine first!" No wonder we don't see aliens filling the universe. Intelligence is its own great filter.

“I didn’t want any leopard to eat anyone’s face but damned if a leopard is going to eat their face before a leopard eats my face!”

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#26

Post by zamnos »

monero-xmr wrote: post #20
pixl97 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If I don't make the world eating machine, someone else might make the world eating machine first!" No wonder we don't see aliens filling the universe. Intelligence is its own great filter.

How can you stop a computer program? Make math illegal?

SIGTERM

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#29

Post by zug_zug »

monero-xmr wrote: post #20
pixl97 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If I don't make the world eating machine, someone else might make the world eating machine first!" No wonder we don't see aliens filling the universe. Intelligence is its own great filter.

How can you stop a computer program? Make math illegal?

Well, if the first AGI is made in a closed controlled simulation honeypot (which it believes isn't a honeypot) and it immediately starts hacking everything then we'll at least have confirmation how immediately dangerous it can be.

Re: Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams

#30

Post by echelon »

anonylizard wrote: post #19
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

These sorts of adjunct, off-to-the-side "ethics" teams are always corporate window dressing, and when push comes to shove they always get jettisoned when competition demands an increase in speed. I don't mean to start a flame war, but this is a reason why I think "Chief Diversity Officers" are such an ill-conceived notion. It's not that I don't think diversity in corporate environments is extremely valuable, but it's…

This. People should understand AI safety != AI ethics. AI safety has two branches, AI ethics and AI alignment. Those two branches despise each other with intense passion. The alignment branch (responsible for developing RLHF->ChatGPT) believes AI ethics is completely trivial, and distracts attention away from existential risks. The ethics branch (responsible for all the media attention about racist AIs/bias etc) view…

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