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OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

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Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it's that it's less tolerated You say that like it's a bad thing. If my favorite restaurant decides to hire management by nepotism and product degrades I can just not go there. You can't just not deal with the government so of course the standards ought to be higher.

If your democratically elected government spends money in ways you find unwise, you can vote for someone else, so that also tends to self-correct (albeit on a longer time scale). The problem isn't the obvious things, in the government or your restaurant example. It's the less-obvious things---your favorite restaurant might cheat on its inspections, for instance. The rate of food poisoning there may go up, but you'll…

>If your democratically elected government spends money in ways you find unwise, you can vote for someone else, so that also tends to self-correct

Not if all the candidates choose to spend money in the same unwise ways.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for defining corruption.

Medicare and Medicaid exist because, as a society, we decided it was better to not let the old, the disabled, and the poor have zero access to health care. Medicare and Medicaid are expensive because we incorrectly apply market economics to healthcare. None of that requires corruption. It's a mixture of over-commitment to market-based solutions and a bare minimum of empathy enshrined into law.

You keep talking around the point and moving the goalposts. I never criticized Medicare and Medicaid. I criticized the US system which outspends all other developed nations, while obtaining poorer results. A lot more money is being spent but looking at the end results it's clearly not going to the right places. So where is the money going? That's the very definition of mismanagement and corruption.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#293
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I do post sources, then what? Do you just suddenly change your mind and accept that stuff documented by the press it does exist? Then I can read them, find similar sources, judge how much I trust them, and get a better idea of how much corruption and waste you are claiming exists. While I am sure corruption and waste occurs, if it’s such a serious problem, there ought to be some evidence of it, direct or indirec…

> Or I “google” it until.. what? I find sources that support your claims? Yes?! Is that too much to ask for that you do research before commenting? >Why should I believe you? I didn't tell you to believe me, I told you to go do your own research if you don't believe me.

If you’ve done the research already, why not share it with your original comment?

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your democratically elected government spends money in ways you find unwise, you can vote for someone else, so that also tends to self-correct (albeit on a longer time scale). The problem isn't the obvious things, in the government or your restaurant example. It's the less-obvious things---your favorite restaurant might cheat on its inspections, for instance. The rate of food poisoning there may go up, but you'll…

>If your democratically elected government spends money in ways you find unwise, you can vote for someone else, so that also tends to self-correct Not if all the candidates choose to spend money in the same unwise ways.

Then inefficiency isn't the problem, the problem is that your views aren't aligned with the country you're living in.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. How is "voters choose to have a system that optimizes for profit" an example of "corruption?" Please explain your logic step by step.

Government chose the system, not the voters. And the government chose the system that benefits the private sector not the population because of corruption(call it lobbying if that makes it easier for you) from the private sector. I've never heard Americans say "I want a system that costs me a lot, makes other people rich and give me northing in return". Explain how that isn't corruption.

> I've never heard Americans say "I want a system that costs me a lot, makes other people rich and give me northing in return".

You're not from America, are you?

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Close! A drop in the bucket! Which is why it’s important the bucket is always getting larger, that way everything is a drop and no single thing is worth making more efficient!

There are lots of single things worth making more efficient. This isn't one of them. This isn't even remotely close to the top decile of the list. This is probably in the last 5% of things you'd want to fix. It's not principled to solve problems in stupid ways, it's actually just stupid. Here's where someone who has thought about the problem for more than 5 seconds would likely start: gigantic healthcare organization…

Sort your list by dollars saved divided by human-hours required to achieve, and add a column with likelihood of success after 2 years.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lots of single things worth making more efficient. This isn't one of them. This isn't even remotely close to the top decile of the list. This is probably in the last 5% of things you'd want to fix. It's not principled to solve problems in stupid ways, it's actually just stupid. Here's where someone who has thought about the problem for more than 5 seconds would likely start: gigantic healthcare organization…

Sort your list by dollars saved divided by human-hours required to achieve, and add a column with likelihood of success after 2 years.

Yeah, "software subscriptions" is nowhere near the top. You lack a sense of scale.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sort your list by dollars saved divided by human-hours required to achieve, and add a column with likelihood of success after 2 years.

Yeah, "software subscriptions" is nowhere near the top. You lack a sense of scale.

Right. A couple hours to instantly save millions by looking at active vs purchased licences is barely worth the effort. Exactly what is the threshold where people with your perspective won’t handwave away explicit irrefutable waste and say “oh that? who cares it’s nothing”?

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#299

Judging from how the DoD currently buys software, lots of money will be spent, many headlines will be written, awards will be handed out, and zero software will make it on to user workstations. End users will continue to use Excel for everything.

Not to mention OpenAI has quite a few foreign nationals working for them anyway so I wonder what new defense tech will stay secret for any period of time.

Re: OpenAI wins $200M U.S. defense contract

#300

Anyone else angered by the fact that these military companies have named themselves using words from Tolkien's works? Andruil, Palantir... it makes a mockery of the things that Tolkien stood for and I hate it.

> it makes a mockery of the things that Tolkien stood for and I hate it

What are you referring to? Do you think Tolkien was a pacifist?

On the contrary, the books are negative towards under-militarized societies (Rohan, Gondor, isolationist Elves, complacent Men).

They commonly underscore the need for watchfulness, preparation, and strength against evil adversaries.

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