Lately, a lot of Recaptcha challenges are things like - identify the trucks, the cars, the shops, etc. I really hate these challenges knowing what Google will (at least in part) do with the data.
A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
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Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#22> "If ethical action on the part of tech companies requires consideration of who might benefit from a technology and who might be harmed," the letter reads, "we can say with certainty that no topic deserves more sober reflection—no technology has higher stakes—than algorithms meant to target and kill at a distance and without public accountability,” My understanding from the reading I've done is that this project is…
The response to that is in the article:
> While a Google spokesperson says the program is "scoped for non-offensive purposes," a letter signed by almost 4,000 Google employees took issue with this assurance, saying, "The technology is being built for the military, and once it's delivered, it could easily be used to assist in [lethal] tasks."
If the object and intent recognition is made fast enough, and is able to be sent to and from a drone in flight, then the technology can be re-purposed offensively, regardless of its initial purpose.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#23Lately, a lot of Recaptcha challenges are things like - identify the trucks, the cars, the shops, etc. I really hate these challenges knowing what Google will (at least in part) do with the data.
IIRC, original Recaptcha was about OCR of books that weren't readable. I'm not sure why anyone uses it right now. Like you said, it's obvious where it's going. Not to mention that it's increasingly annoying for users.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#24Lately, a lot of Recaptcha challenges are things like - identify the trucks, the cars, the shops, etc. I really hate these challenges knowing what Google will (at least in part) do with the data.
IIRC, original Recaptcha was about OCR of books that weren't readable. I'm not sure why anyone uses it right now. Like you said, it's obvious where it's going. Not to mention that it's increasingly annoying for users.
And completely accessible. RECAPTCHA is basically impossible to use if you need a screen reader or have any sort of visual impairment. Hell, I’ve have problems as a EU resident due to differences between street signs between here and the US.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#25I wonder how many of those Googler's who objected to the development of weapon systems have served in combat positions fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan? I'm guessing not many which is a reason why it is important for firms such as Google to prioritize the hiring of combat vets (besides the fact that they risked their lives to serve our country). For those who have not served in combat or lost a friend or relative that…
Unfortunately they’re also very effective at killing foreign nationals with nothing to do with any conflict. And if you reply with the weasel words “collateral damage” then, with all due respect, fuck you. (Sorry dang, I’ll take any downvotes as deserved, but this comment is unacceptable in my eyes).
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#26I wonder how many of those Googler's who objected to the development of weapon systems have served in combat positions fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan? I'm guessing not many which is a reason why it is important for firms such as Google to prioritize the hiring of combat vets (besides the fact that they risked their lives to serve our country). For those who have not served in combat or lost a friend or relative that…
There's also precious little understanding of the fact that the US isn't the only high-tech military power in the world, and that there's nothing stopping countries like Russia and China from developing this kind of technology. And you're a fool if you think they would use that technology more ethically than the US military.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#27Kudos to those who is ready to stand for their principles. If you are at G and thinking whether you should resign or not, remembers this - the market for AI talent is super hot. You will immediately find lots of great and challenging AI work pushing humanity forward
Are there many AI opportunities out there without potential military use? Warfare is a broad-spectrum human activity. I'm having trouble imagining many things that can't be leveraged.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#28> "If ethical action on the part of tech companies requires consideration of who might benefit from a technology and who might be harmed," the letter reads, "we can say with certainty that no topic deserves more sober reflection—no technology has higher stakes—than algorithms meant to target and kill at a distance and without public accountability,” My understanding from the reading I've done is that this project is…
I don't think that's an argument. The truth is, even if the particular applications of AI to tasks like this are innocuous in this case, they're less than a stone's throw away from things that aren't. Uses like this for technology are a perfect example of things we (we, the tech community, who have always prided ourselves on being more fair and ethical than the rest of the world) all promised we would never do . Ther…
> I don't think that's an argument.
Of course it is! It's an intentional mis-characterization of what the software does.
> Uses like this for technology are a perfect example of things we...all promised we would never do.
I didn't make any such promise. When did you?
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#29Good on them. That's taking a stand, and it's admirable they are standing by their beliefs.
Maybe they can go work on making a product that could never be used by the U.S. military they despise so much as they live their sheltered and comfortable parochial lives.
I mean, I'd be hard-pressed to think of any such product, but maybe I lack imagination.
Re: A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
#30> "If ethical action on the part of tech companies requires consideration of who might benefit from a technology and who might be harmed," the letter reads, "we can say with certainty that no topic deserves more sober reflection—no technology has higher stakes—than algorithms meant to target and kill at a distance and without public accountability,” My understanding from the reading I've done is that this project is…
I don't think that's an argument. The truth is, even if the particular applications of AI to tasks like this are innocuous in this case, they're less than a stone's throw away from things that aren't. Uses like this for technology are a perfect example of things we (we, the tech community, who have always prided ourselves on being more fair and ethical than the rest of the world) all promised we would never do . Ther…
It's really challenging to unpack this kind of dogmatic argument. Are you a pacifist in general? Are you against violence and military intervention in every conceivable case, up to and including Rwanda or WWII? Do you think it's good for relatively liberal and democratic countries to have less military capability than relatively authoritarian countries?
The cause of human rights, freedom, dignity, and survival would have been actively harmed if British and American scientists and engineers took the same moral stance that you're taking and refused to participate in the war effort. Do you think it was wrong of Turing to help break German encryption?