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Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#21

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

CodeAndCuffs wrote: post #6

What does that even mean?! Will this take the Christian path of forgiving our enemies, turning the other cheek, and giving our shirts to people who steal our cloaks? Is he saying that military AI should specifically target Philistines and the uncircumcised? Will the military AI enslave people but give them the option of freedom or permanent servitude after 7 years? You can't base something on Judeo-Christian ethics b…

This phrase leaves out the largest branch of the Abrahamic family tree, namely Islam. It also underplays the revolution that was Christianity.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#22

Post by pessimizer »

throwaway6734 wrote: post #11
LinuxBender wrote: post #3

Is that by chance a subtle reference to the First Crusade [1]? If that is our ethical foundation then many options would be on the table. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade

What's specifically wrong about the first crusade? It was in response to the rise of the seljuk Turks and their advance on the Byzantines and also similar to the Muslim invasions of the middle east, northern africa, southern italy, and spain. That area of the world had changed hands between Rome and Persia for hundreds of years before then as well.

Ah, the Crusades were good because the Moors invading Europe was good? Or is this another case of "You say what we did was bad, but people who I think are terrible also did the same thing, therefore what we did was actually good!"

I guess this adds "also other people did things like that" to it, but are you saying anything here you couldn't also say about slavery or serial killing?

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#23

Post by pessimizer »

coldtea wrote: post #18
oxymoronic wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that time in Christian West, the notion of "Judeo-Christianity" would be considered an oxymoron. But it is possible that the general is question is in fact alluding to that era from ignorance.

Judeo-Christianity here just means Old+New testament. They just didn't use that terminology back then, but the notion was very much the same.

So "Judeo-Christianity" in this context is just a euphemism for "Christianity."

> What has become known as the People's Crusade passed through Germany and indulged in wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities, including the Rhineland massacres.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#24

Post by agnokapathetic »

coldtea wrote: post #18
oxymoronic wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that time in Christian West, the notion of "Judeo-Christianity" would be considered an oxymoron. But it is possible that the general is question is in fact alluding to that era from ignorance.

Judeo-Christianity here just means Old+New testament. They just didn't use that terminology back then, but the notion was very much the same.

No. The Notion was not very much the same. Medieval views of the Torah / Old Testament were very much informed by anti-semitism.

Medieval crusaders would have balked at the idea that Jewish and Christian values could have any form of harmony.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#25

Post by squarefoot »

As someone who read the Bible and then decided that atheism was the only logical path, I would be extremely picky on which principles to stick on, because there are some really valid ones in there, but also so much violence and abuse to give the Mein Kampf a run for its money.

In my experience, every time people with executive, military or political power name religion, divinities or whatever related, something very bad is going to happen, and religion is just the leverage to make atrocities more acceptable to the masses.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#26

Post by declan_roberts »

One thing that worries me about the cultivated disinterest in developing weapons of war among silicon Valley engineers is that we’re going to fall quickly behind.

In the USA the smartest people in the world are working on adtech. In China and Russia they’re building super-sonic missiles and AI drones.

If we don’t develop the weapons first then our adversaries certainly will.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#29

Post by bko »

CodeAndCuffs wrote: post #6

What does that even mean?! Will this take the Christian path of forgiving our enemies, turning the other cheek, and giving our shirts to people who steal our cloaks? Is he saying that military AI should specifically target Philistines and the uncircumcised? Will the military AI enslave people but give them the option of freedom or permanent servitude after 7 years? You can't base something on Judeo-Christian ethics b…

I think you're overthinking it. I think he meant "Judaeo-Christian roots" as a kind of stand in for American exceptionalism that values individual liberties and freedom above all else. The country obviously doesn't always live up to that ideal, but that was the basic idea

He says as much in the article:

> “The foundation of my comments was to explain that the Air Force is not going to allow AI to take actions, nor are we going to take actions on information provided by AI unless we can ensure that the information is in accordance with our values,” Moore wrote. “While this may not be unique to our society, it is not anticipated to be the position of any potential adversary.”

Sure you can use this to dunk on Christianity or America but that's pretty boring.

Re: Judeo-Christian roots will ensure US military AI is used ethically, general says

#30

Post by plorg »

CodeAndCuffs wrote: post #6

What does that even mean?! Will this take the Christian path of forgiving our enemies, turning the other cheek, and giving our shirts to people who steal our cloaks? Is he saying that military AI should specifically target Philistines and the uncircumcised? Will the military AI enslave people but give them the option of freedom or permanent servitude after 7 years? You can't base something on Judeo-Christian ethics b…

It could also mean anything from "killing Muslims is fine" to "pursuing a millenialist apocalypse", because "Judeo-Christian" is a political idea more than a moral/ethical or religious one. It contains the idea that Christians and Jews (generally meaning the modern categories) are allies (particularly excluding Islam which contains the same religious origins), but even in that move when people describe something as Judeo-Christian they almost always mean something that is "Christian" or Western European. It is based on an assumption of Christian supremacy where Christianity is assumed to be the successor religion and culture of Judaism. It almost certainly ignores any belief, custom, or practice in Judaism that does not pre-date Christianity.
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