Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I Left Google DeepMind

turntrout.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 186 posts

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#141

Post by amazingamazing »

watwut wrote: post #123
amazingamazing wrote: post #67

It is honorable but ultimately hasn’t democracy spoken wrt the issues mentioned in the post? For better or worse millions of Americans voted for the guy doing the deportations. I also find it difficult to reconcile not using AI for weapons. If war is inevitable AI presumably would at least ensure you are on target.

This idea that once a party gain a little more votes, people who oppose it should cease to exist and cease push for own values ... somehow applies only to the right. When center or left wins, somehow, magically, same logic dont apply.

What a weird strawman

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#143

Post by [deleted] »

slowin wrote: post #33

Props to the author. I left Microsoft due to their work with Israel to spy on Palestinians and record all of their phone conversations (in addition to other IDF collaborations). They ended up walking some of it back, but Satya was complicit. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/25/microsoft-bloc...

[deleted]

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#144

Post by butlike »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #132
metalsiliconYT wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Responsibility will always have to lie with the user, but if the weapons are more advanced and safer then why is that bad? I like that autonomous vehicles like Waymo are 10x safer then human drivers, even if a 'Machine' is making decisions.

Because they aren't "safer" for the folks getting killed. Historically, the folks doing the murdering just don't care about the folks they kill, so "safer for the killers" isn't a win for most of us. "More precision" isn't about killing less folks, it's about making it safer and easier for folks who kill folks to do that work. So those of us who dislike killing don't like these tools because we consider them to be im…

That is a great point and one I never considered. The folks doing the murdering shouldn't have their jobs be easier. They aren't safer for the person getting killed.

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#145

Post by fastball »

tomrod wrote: post #65
fastball wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the idea that with worse technology, DHS will kill fewer people?

Is it binary? I don't think the technology is the core issue, the concern is over the people enforcing and the policies governing their actions -- the technology becomes a flashpoint when the prior two are issues. Scaling bad actions and actors even though the tech itself is neutral. TFA's point is really getting at that -- who is accountable for scaling bad actions and actors?

But the scaling needs to be relevant to the actual actions you are concerned about.

It's a stretch that any software Google/DeepMind/etc is selling to DHS is allowing / helping them to scale the murder part of their operations.

In fact, usually software translates to "less boots on the ground" which one could then assume would decrease the number of encounters like those highlighted in the article.

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#146

Post by scoring1774 »

busterarm wrote: post #44
smallmancontrov wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If half of us were half as principled as this guy, the world would be a much better place.

No, they would just walked all over by the 2% who have no principles whatsoever. Kind of like what's happening already. Principles are only good up until they enable you to be systematically victimized.

I sometimes think this way but I do wonder whether this would be true in a world where individuals demand more control over the impacts of their work. It seems that the current problem is that the labor of the 98% (or whatever number you like) is well-aligned with the demands of the 2% without principles who seem to have a strong propensity to end up in leadership positions. It reminds me of the simulations people run where in a high-trust world scammers do well, while in a low-trust world they die off only to then lead to a new high-trust world.

If enough people make decisions like OP and only perform work that they believe in (for one reason or another) perhaps that redirects the path to power for the 2% such that they need to act in the interests of the 98% rather than the other way around. I think OP was very late to the train here and I had made a similar career switch in the past for similar reasons but I'm happy to see other people making decisions that, if nothing else, will make them feel that they are in control of the impacts of their time and hard-work. Not sure how things will balance out in the end/distant future but we do our best and try to lead a life we feel good about living.

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#147

Post by krapht »

slowin wrote: post #117
za3faran wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I salute you for your morality. If most people did this, those companies would change their position very quickly. After all, they only think about money.

Thank you but I'm no saint. I joined Microsoft knowing that they were incompatible with my values. I just told myself that I wouldn't work on those types of projects and try to stick to my values. I told myself that I could just be "professional" and keep my head down. But, as I learned more I was filled with a deep sadness and shame. It was tearing me apart. Every day I got up to go to work and was getting sick to m…

It's more rare, and definitely less lucrative, but there are opportunities in software engineering for non-profits, open-source, and smaller non-tech companies. If you've made your blood money and don't need top n% pay, it's something worth checking out.

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#148

Post by kombine »

Chance-Device wrote: post #129
kombine wrote: post #121

This is no longer on the front page of HN despite 200+ points and having been posted 1 hour ago.

There’s a flame war detector, this has certainly triggered it and pushed the thread down the rankings.

I don't see any evidence of a flame war in this discussion, in fact there is an overwhelming consensus in the comments on the side of the author.

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#149

Post by butlike »

metalsiliconYT wrote: post #71
Zsfe510asG wrote: post #69

We know now that Google is a sycophantic company whose DEI initiatives were all fake and dropped once Trump got elected. This somewhat naive initiative was bound to fail. The good news is that the AI military products won't work, except perhaps for blowing up a girls' school. Here are CEOs falling over themselves to support Hassabis' regulatory capture proposal: https://xcancel.com/sundarpichai/status/207708695183306…

Saying AI military products wont work is the dumbest thing i've heard in awhile

Bro, they're not going to work. I promise you lol

Re: Why I Left Google DeepMind

#150

Post by BrenBarn »

It's nice to see someone willing to act on their principles. Unfortunately, as this person found out, most people are not that good.

More than that, I tend to think that so many Rubicons have already been crossed by Google and their ilk that it's pointless to think aiming at any narrow ethical target like this will make much a difference. So my appreciation for the author's ethics is tempered by a belief that, even if Google had done everything the author wanted on this one issue, the company would still be evil.

I still think there is almost no chance that companies so large, built on such a wide array of unethical activities, are redeemable. I don't see any real solution but wholesale dismantling of virtually all large companies in existence today, and putting in place far stricter regulations that prevent any companies ever becoming that large and powerful again.

Post reply on HN