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'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

theguardian.com

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Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#21

Post by wolverine876 »

greenavocado wrote: post #13
legitster wrote: post #10

Palantir's entire business model is taking on customers/projects that the rest of Silicon Valley refuses to. Not only is there an "underserved" audience, they get to charge a premium and for worse products. The irony is that this is a good reminder of the harsh realities that Oppenheimer himself clearly grappled with - if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will .

The silver lining is that the people with less scruples might also be less competent and their solutions more fragile resulting in operational failure when deployed, in turn saving humanity.

> The silver lining is that the people with less scruples might also be less competent and their solutions more fragile resulting in operational failure when deployed, in turn saving humanity.

Think of the complete lack of agency, the powerlessness, of that perspective. 'If we do nothing, maybe they'll shoot themselves in the foot.' It's 'freeze' in the fight/flight/freeze response to danger.

In fairness, the parent didn't say that's all we'll do, but few talk about actual actions, solutions, with full agency and responsibility.

The solution isn't a silver lining to a cloud, it's what we will do to make a better world. If we don't make one, who will?

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#22

Post by croes »

legitster wrote: post #10

Palantir's entire business model is taking on customers/projects that the rest of Silicon Valley refuses to. Not only is there an "underserved" audience, they get to charge a premium and for worse products. The irony is that this is a good reminder of the harsh realities that Oppenheimer himself clearly grappled with - if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will .

>if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will.

Pretty lame excuse. If I don't sell drugs, some else will.

If you're doing it, you are already the one with less scruples.

Do you think the victims care about the scruples of the perpetrator?

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#24

Post by wolverine876 »

justin66 wrote: post #2

Ah, British press. It's a bit sleazy the way the quote was placed in a headline above a photo of the CEO of Palantir, who is certainly a douchebag but did not compare himself to Oppenheimer. That was some other douchebag. There was some useful stuff in the article itself.

That's really looking for problems. The Palantir CEO said things much more extreme:

As the moderator asked general questions about the panelists’ views on the future of war, Schmidt and Cohen answered cautiously. But Karp, who’s known as a provocateur, aggressively condoned violence, often peering into the audience with hungry eyes, palpably desperate for claps, boos or shock.

He began by saying that the US has to “scare our adversaries to death” in war. Referring to Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, he said: “If what happened to them happened to us, there’d be a hole in the ground somewhere.” Members of the audience laughed when he mocked fresh graduates of Columbia University, which had some of the earliest encampment protests in the country. He said they’d have a hard time on the job market and described their views as a “pagan religion infecting our universities” and “an infection inside of our society”.

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#25

Post by throwup238 »

totetsu wrote: post #12
throw9474 wrote: post #7

Pretty sure Elon Musk is the new Oppenheimer trying to "win" at nuclear war... https://wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starshield

Looking forward to the future where Elon can drone strike me from space because of something I said on twitter.

Just spoof your Twitter app's GPS to point at SpaceX's offices.

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#26

Post by mmaniac »

legitster wrote: post #10

Palantir's entire business model is taking on customers/projects that the rest of Silicon Valley refuses to. Not only is there an "underserved" audience, they get to charge a premium and for worse products. The irony is that this is a good reminder of the harsh realities that Oppenheimer himself clearly grappled with - if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will .

Most people don't consider themselves to be unscrupulous or to be morally wrong in general.

Anyone who would intentionally choose to be compared to Oppenheimer should sooner be scrutinised for his own ethical dubiousness rather than his competitors.

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#27

Post by unclebucknasty »

totetsu wrote: post #12
throw9474 wrote: post #7

Pretty sure Elon Musk is the new Oppenheimer trying to "win" at nuclear war... https://wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starshield

Looking forward to the future where Elon can drone strike me from space because of something I said on twitter.

It's X now. And, you will comply.

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#28

Post by octopoc »

croes wrote: post #22
legitster wrote: post #10

Palantir's entire business model is taking on customers/projects that the rest of Silicon Valley refuses to. Not only is there an "underserved" audience, they get to charge a premium and for worse products. The irony is that this is a good reminder of the harsh realities that Oppenheimer himself clearly grappled with - if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will .

>if you refuse to build it, someone with less scruples will. Pretty lame excuse. If I don't sell drugs, some else will. If you're doing it, you are already the one with less scruples. Do you think the victims care about the scruples of the perpetrator?

Yeah it's really just an excuse to be evil while feeling righteous and conflicted about it, and saying "You don't understand" to anyone who objects to your behavior.

Re: 'I'm the new Oppenheimer ': Palantir's first-ever AI warfare conference

#30

Post by wolverine876 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6
pc86 wrote: post #4

> I shouldn’t have been surprised by anything I saw or heard at this conference. But when it ended, and I departed DC for home, it felt like my life force had been completely sucked out of my body. > More specifically, it divided attendees into two groups: those who see war as a matter of money and strategy, and those who see it as a matter of death. The vast majority of people there fell into group one. > I walked o…

> it divided attendees into two groups: those who see war as a matter of money and strategy, and those who see it as a matter of death Seriously. What a juvenile way to frame war. War is absolutely about contest and strategy—and yes, money—and it also causes death. It’s always horrible, more horrible than the belligerents imagined at the outset. But it’s part of reality, like sickness and disease, and while I think w…

> it’s not something everyone can stick their heads in the sand about because it makes them uncomfortable.

That's a strawperson and you know it; IMHO that argument is sticking one's head in the sand to avoid the unconfortable issues raised in the article and by others: Many extreme warmongers are out there now; there's a powerful tide of embracing violence and hate, and we know where that leads.

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