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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

#41

Post by legohead »

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?

I think it's more lame to disregard this ideology. What if Germany had the nuke first? "oh well, at least we held to our morals"

There's this ideal human sociology, and then there's the reality of what we really are. It takes a unique person to accept it, and do the wrong thing for the right reason, and also be able to steer things in the eventual right direction.

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

#43

Post by AnimalMuppet »

nen-nomad wrote: post #29

> “The peace activists are war activists,” Karp insisted. “We are the peace activists.” They are literally saying, "War is Peace".

I could see it as saying that the peace activists are on a path that will not actually lead to peace, but rather to war, and those preparing for war are on a path that will actually lead to peace.

"If you wish for peace, prepare for war" is an old way of phrasing this. It's not a new thought.

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

#45

Post by vundercind »

sho_hn wrote: post #33
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 .

It feels very difficult to get a good sense of Palantir's quality. All I know is the rabid fanbase the company has, most of whom have never used a single peoduct they make. I'd love to see some authentic experience reports.

I’m in the corporate, not spying/war, space, and only have second-hand accounts (from people I trust) but the impression I get is they peddle unremarkable data analysis products to businesses, relying on your buying lots of dev hours from their team to actually make half the stuff they sold you work.

Basically just boring IBM-type shit, except maybe even less honest and professional.

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

#46

Post by justin66 »

wolverine876 wrote: post #24
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 “s…

I don't disagree. So why not post an honest headline?

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

#47

Post by asah »

megous wrote: post #44

So Google's founder is into killing machines now... with an idea to automate them more, ... just like Google support I guess... What? :)

well, in the 2000s googlers really did joke about the "robot army"... now we actually have it...

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

#48

Post by JumpCrisscross »

hedora wrote: post #31
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

If I had to divide this war into two groups, it'd be the people that stoke fear and hatred by committing war crimes in order to consolidate the personal power and wealth, and the people having the war crimes committed against them. Note that both groups are spread pretty evenly across Israel and Palestine.

> this war

I was commenting generally. In respect of the Israel-Hamas war, I agree with your characterisation.

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

#49

Post by asah »

legohead wrote: post #41
croes wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

I think it's more lame to disregard this ideology. What if Germany had the nuke first? "oh well, at least we held to our morals" There's this ideal human sociology, and then there's the reality of what we really are. It takes a unique person to accept it, and do the wrong thing for the right reason, and also be able to steer things in the eventual right direction.

interesting example because we defeated Germany without nukes...

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

#50

Post by JumpCrisscross »

wolverine876 wrote: post #30
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> Many extreme warmongers are out there now; there's a powerful tide of embracing violence and hate

Sure. But that still violates the author's dichotomy: a hateful warmonger wants death. If you're an amoral war profiteer, your fodder are folks who want death. Dividing the audience into people who care about money only and people who care about death (presumably the good guys in the author's view) makes no sense.

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