I'm guessing this will be a somewhat controversial view here, but I think this is net good. The world is more turbulent than at any other time in my life, there is war in Europe, and the U.S. needs every advantage it can get to improve its defense. Companies like Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, can and should be working with the government on defense projects -- I would much rather the Department of Defense have access to the best tools from the private sector than depend on some legacy prime contractor that doesn't have any real tech capabilities.
Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
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Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
> while megacorps aren't fundamentally "evil" (for some definitions of evil), I think megacorps being evil is universal. It tends to be corrupt cop evil vs serial killer evil, but being willing to do anything for money has historically been categorized as evil behavior. That doesn’t mean society would be better or worse off without them, but it would be interesting to see a world where companies pay vastly higher tax…
You're taking about pre-Clinton consumerism. That system is dead. It used to dictate that the company who could offer the best value deserved to take over most of the market. That's old thinking. Now we have servitization. Now the business who can most efficiently offer value deserves the entire market. Basically, iterate until you're the only one left standing and then never "sell" anything but licenses ever again.
The bait-and-switch model is absolutely amazing as well. Start by offering a service covered with ads. Then add paid tier to get rid of ads. Next add tier with payment and ads. And finally add ads back to every possible tier. Not to forget about keeping them in content all the time.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> while megacorps aren't fundamentally "evil" (for some definitions of evil), I think megacorps being evil is universal. It tends to be corrupt cop evil vs serial killer evil, but being willing to do anything for money has historically been categorized as evil behavior. That doesn’t mean society would be better or worse off without them, but it would be interesting to see a world where companies pay vastly higher tax…
Most suggestions of this nature fail to explain how they will deal with the problem of people just seeing there’s no point in trying for more. On a personal level, I’ve heard people from Norway describe this problem for personal income tax—at some point (notably below a typical US senior software engineer’s earnings) the amount of work you need to put in for the marginal post-tax krone is so high it’s just demotivati…
> Most suggestions of this nature fail to explain how they will deal with the problem of people just seeing there’s no point in trying for more. On a personal level, I’ve heard people from Norway describe this problem for personal income tax—at some point (notably below a typical US senior software engineer’s earnings) the amount of work you need to put in for the marginal post-tax krone is so high it’s just demotivating, and you either coast or emigrate. Perhaps that’s not entirely undesirable, but I don’t know if people have contemplated the consequences of the existence of such a de facto ceiling seriously.
I think if you look at quality of life and happiness ratings in Norway it's pretty clear it's far from "entirely undesirable". It's good for people to do things for reasons other than money.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#54Other countries will use AI for weapons - shouldn’t the EU and US also do that to remain competitive?
Personally I don’t care if ML is used for weapons development assuming there are standards
It’s the companies that horde everyone’s personal information, who eroded the concept of privacy while mediating lives with false promises for trust turning into state intelligence agencies that bothers me
The incentives and results become fucked up, safe guards less likely to work I get not a lot of people care but it’s dangerous
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#55I initially thought that this was an announcement for a new pledge and thought, "they're going to forget about this the moment it's convenient." Then I read the article and realized, "Oh, it's already convenient." Google is a megacorp, and while megacorps aren't fundamentally "evil" (for some definitions of evil), they are fundamentally unconcerned with goodness or morality, and any appearance that they are is purely…
Not evil, perhaps, but run by Moloch[1] -- which is possibly just as bad. Their incentives are set up to throw virtually all human values under the bus because even if they don't, they will be out-marginal-profited by someone that does.
[1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#56Here is a nice read on the subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_involved_in_...
The subject being, how far large corporations are willing to go for the sake of profit maximisation.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#57Is it a canary? Does this mean the government has imposed on Google for use of it's AI?
Imposed? They get DOD $$$ for this, theyre the ones offering
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
The market solves all problems. ... or at least that's what these people have to be telling themselves at all times .
I have full faith that the market[1] will direct the trolley onto the morally optimal track. It's invisible hand will guide mine when I decide or decide against pulling the lever. Either way, I can be sure that the result is maximally beneficial to the participants, myself included. 1. https://drakelawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/lrdisc...
The magic market fairy godmother has decided that TVs with built in ads and spyware are good for you. The market fairy thinks this is so good for you that there are no longer any alternatives to a smart TV besides "no tv"
The market fairy has also decided that medication commercials on TV is good for you. That your car should report your location, speed, and driving habits to your insurer, car manufacturer, and their 983,764 partners at all times.
Maximally beneficial indeed.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#59If you work for big tech now, you’re working for a defense contractor, no different to Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman. Ultimately every sufficiently large company seems to become an arms dealer, a drug dealer or a bank. We need look no further than Lavender [1] to see where this ends up. [1]: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
> If you work for big tech now, you’re working for a defense contractor, no different to Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman.
The difference is about 250k/yr. Kinda big.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#60I initially thought that this was an announcement for a new pledge and thought, "they're going to forget about this the moment it's convenient." Then I read the article and realized, "Oh, it's already convenient." Google is a megacorp, and while megacorps aren't fundamentally "evil" (for some definitions of evil), they are fundamentally unconcerned with goodness or morality, and any appearance that they are is purely…
What is Googs going to do, leave money on the table?
And if Googs doesn't do it, someone else will, so it might as well be them that makes money for their shareholders. Technically, couldn't activist shareholders come together and claim by not going after this market the leadership should be replaced for those that would? After all, share prices is the only metric that matters