And some still claim blocking ads on YouTube is immoral..
Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
451–460 of 567 posts
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#452Earlier quoted context omitted.
> We actually have competitors in that space, who will do that and more So what? Can't Google find other sources of revenue than building weapons?
Why would it turn down billions in government contracts unless otherwise punished by its shareholders?
Because it's better for humanity? Because it's morally the right choice?
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#453It's a far cry from the days where employees were threatening to mass quit Google when it changed its policies to avoid bans in China. A lot of what is going on in the world right now makes me think we are in a war that hasn't yet been officially acknowledged.
> makes me think we are in a war
Dr Pippa Malmgren (political advisor) also pushes the idea that WW3 is on-going, and it will look nothing like WW2. She appears on podcasts once in a while and has a blog. Not sure if I care for calling it a war if it doesn't look like a war, but there sure are human conflicts all over the little ball of life now.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#454“ we believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security,” the two executives wrote.”
We smell money, is what they meant.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#455Here 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.
That's the thing everyone forget, Hitler was never a socialist, capital thrived under his reich.
Capitalist know socialism means their doom and are actively financing, forming and promoting far right politics accross the occident. Playing on people fear of the unknown to make them vote for parties that are counter-beneficial to them.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#456Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have ever seen the prank interview between Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan, "Do you wear wigs? Have you worn wigs? Will you wear wigs?" and Elijah breaks down laughing in total shock at how hilariously bad the interview is... ...I just picture a similar conversation with a CEO going: "Sir, shareholders want to see more improvement this quarter." CEO: "Do we run ads? Have we run ads? Will we run ads this time?…
Some one has to pay for those Ads. That creates limits to growth of an Ad based ecosystem. So the thing to pay attention too is not Revenue growth or Profit growth of a Platform but Price of an Ad, Price to increase reach, price to Pay to Boost your post, price of a presidential campaign etc etc. These prices cant grow forever just like with housing prices or we get the equivalent of a Housing Bubble. Want to destabi…
This doesn’t make sense to me. Ads on the main networks are sold by auction. Price pumping is built into the system.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#457That feels like PR / virtue signaling. AI has the potential to significantly reduce the human cost of war in two ways: by removing soldiers from direct combat and by enabling precision strikes which minimize collateral damage. Over time, robot-soldiers will surpass human effectiveness, making it increasingly irrational to send people into harm's way. In that world, conflicts would shift toward being decided by techno…
Ah, yes, the "Peace on Earth" future!
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#458Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference there is that a knife has some obvious, benign use cases. Smart weapons targeting has only one use case, and it's to do harm to others.
AI weapons do have benign use cases: harming enemies. When China attacks with AI weapons do you expect the free world to fight back armed with moral superiority? No. We need even more lethal AI weapons. Mutual assured destruction has worked so far for nukes.
Use of weapons is only benign to you if you're not on the receiving end. Imagine your family being blown up by a rocket because an AI system hallucinated that they're part of a dangerous terror cell.
My point though is that this is the only use case for such systems. The common comparisons to things like knives are invalid for this reason.
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#459That makes me sad. Yet Google's shift here isn't surprising... It's part of the broader trend of big tech aligning more closely with government. But the real question is does this shift make AI development more accountable or does it just normalize AI's role in warfare and surveillance under the guise of "democratic values"?
Re: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance
#460I 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…
Ethical pledges from corporations, especially ones as large as Google, are PR tools first and foremost. They last only as long as they align with strategic and financial interests