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IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

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Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#71
post #59
post #58

Funny, some people in the Arab world are fighting required Hijab use. In the US and Europe, with this happening, I could see many people outside wearing Hijabs that cover your full face in the future.

If you’re referring to Iran then they’re Persian not Arab.

The Arab world refers to the Islamic countries in the Middle East I believe. Not any specific country

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#72
post #58

Funny, some people in the Arab world are fighting required Hijab use. In the US and Europe, with this happening, I could see many people outside wearing Hijabs that cover your full face in the future.

In my country it is actually illegal to cover your face. There was a substantial backlash on Islam.

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/gezichtsbedekkende-...

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#73

When will people learn that companies will almost always sell stuff as long as it’s legal and profitable. They have no morals. If we declined into a dictatorship they would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression. If we don’t make it illegal to pollute they will pollute if they think it makes money.

Upton Sinclair — 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.'

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#74
post #65

When will people learn that companies will almost always sell stuff as long as it’s legal and profitable. They have no morals. If we declined into a dictatorship they would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression. If we don’t make it illegal to pollute they will pollute if they think it makes money.

I believe people should take care to add "men and women at" before talking about companies. Companies and corporations are abstractions. There are real people taking these actions. - "Men and women at IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it" - "Men and women would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression" etc. The reason I think this is important is that there's act…

I think you’re vastly underestimating how many people can figure it out with a little research and on the job training. The basic government consulting model is to take fresh collage grads and have them muddle through. And while yes it’s a horrific waste of taxpayer money, it also works surprisingly often.

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#75
post #58

Funny, some people in the Arab world are fighting required Hijab use. In the US and Europe, with this happening, I could see many people outside wearing Hijabs that cover your full face in the future.

It's peak techbro delusion to think the rest of the population care that much about privacy.

I wish I was wrong.

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#76
post #65

When will people learn that companies will almost always sell stuff as long as it’s legal and profitable. They have no morals. If we declined into a dictatorship they would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression. If we don’t make it illegal to pollute they will pollute if they think it makes money.

I believe people should take care to add "men and women at" before talking about companies. Companies and corporations are abstractions. There are real people taking these actions. - "Men and women at IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it" - "Men and women would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression" etc. The reason I think this is important is that there's act…

> spineless cowards

It's hard to be brave when you have to support a family, pay for a mortgage, pay for the kids' college, etc.

I remember feeling queasy, almost 20 years ago, when I got hired for a very good salary to do helpdesk, and realized the customers I had to support included some Bad Actors: big mining, big arm manufacturing, even big spying... but I could finally afford to buy a small house, marry my partner, and start a family. So I sucked it up, and without that experience I wouldn't be where I am now.

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#77
It is foolish to think that an assertion without an incentivizing contract is anything other than marketing. What, is a public corporation going to turn down 70M because of something a leader said when it was popular? They have legal fiduciary obligations against not making money, not against changing directions.

Even at the granularity of individual humans, what people want to do is largely orthogonal to what they do. In James Clear's book Atomic Habits one of the more hard-core ways of pre-committing to a course of action is to write a contract with an "accountability partner."

Below is a sample:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/Habit+Cont...

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#78

“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors…” They didn’t feel the need to “include” themselves in their definition of “any”

IBM's solutions are so ancient they are no longer considered technology.

Quantum computers, cutting edge crypto, cutting edge physical reseach just to name a few? I think we are pretty much at the forefront of a lot of things.

disclaimer: I work at IBM Research but this is my own opinion.

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#79
post #65

When will people learn that companies will almost always sell stuff as long as it’s legal and profitable. They have no morals. If we declined into a dictatorship they would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression. If we don’t make it illegal to pollute they will pollute if they think it makes money.

I believe people should take care to add "men and women at" before talking about companies. Companies and corporations are abstractions. There are real people taking these actions. - "Men and women at IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it" - "Men and women would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression" etc. The reason I think this is important is that there's act…

Or to avoid using the gender binary we could just use "People/Humans at IBM" :)

Agree otherwise.

Re: IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it

#80
post #76
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe people should take care to add "men and women at" before talking about companies. Companies and corporations are abstractions. There are real people taking these actions. - "Men and women at IBM promised to back off facial recognition, then signed a $70M contract for it" - "Men and women would sell equipment for total surveillance and oppression" etc. The reason I think this is important is that there's act…

> spineless cowards It's hard to be brave when you have to support a family, pay for a mortgage, pay for the kids' college, etc. I remember feeling queasy, almost 20 years ago, when I got hired for a very good salary to do helpdesk, and realized the customers I had to support included some Bad Actors: big mining, big arm manufacturing, even big spying... but I could finally afford to buy a small house, marry my partn…

> It's hard to be brave when

By definition, the only time it's possible to be brave is when it's hard.

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