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Where things stand with the Department of War

anthropic.com

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Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#451

Post by padjo »

Rohunyyy wrote: post #203
agigao wrote: post #140

Around 10 years ago, in college, in Calculus class I had a very ambitious classmate, wanted to go to DARPA and work on Robotics. I asked if he was thinking it through solely from technical perspective or considering ethics side as well. Clearly, he didn't understand the question and I directly inquired - what if the code you write or autonomous machine you contribute to used for killing? His response - that's not my…

See in your case with the military you can directly say, hey my code will be used to bomb other people possibly. But in today's times it isn't (I am sure even then) so cut and dry. I worked in AdTech industry (like 60% of the bay area techies). So the ad tech I write gets shown to millions/billions. What about ads influencing elections and then politicians waging wars? Anti-vax ads which influence people and then kil…

This isn't really the moral dilemma you make it out to be.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#452

Post by lkey »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #318

Why can't companies/governments make weapons that capture autonomously instead of killing in the same fashion?

The purpose of the system is what it does. The US keeps destabilizing countries, funding genocides, and indirectly killing millions upon millions. This has been the 'bipartisan' consensus of our 'elite' class since the beginning.

Look at the votes taken today if you need a refresher.

No one wants the middle way of 'capture' that hypothetically exists between peaceful cooperation and wars of domination, so it will not exist. You should consider, in this moment, if you stand for imperial aggression, or against it, as there is no third way.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#453

Post by [deleted] »

donkyrf wrote: post #343
hax0ron3 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The late 90s were full of media that questioned reality and authority - like X-Files, The Matrix, Dark City, all sorts of websites about conspiracy theories and UFOs, etc. The zeitgeist was full of speculation about hidden truths. The cultural mood was defiant and sardonic. There was rap, rap-rock, Beavis and Butthead, Fight Club, Office Space... One of the most popular pro wrestlers in the world played a character w…

The late 90s were also a time of Law & Order, The West Wing, Apollo 13, and Saving Private Ryan. And today is a time of Andor and Succession....

[deleted]

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#454

Post by [deleted] »

jadar wrote: post #380
godelski wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The idea of teaching some sort of “secular” ethics has never made sense to me … An intro ethics class won't shy away from religion, it comes up a lot. You'll most likely even discuss differences in different sects of Christianity. You should also have the discussion of if morals are universal (and if so, which ones) or are all made up. Secular just means you discuss more than one viewpoint. The idea of teaching mor…

[flagged]

[deleted]

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#456

Post by lukan »

Rohunyyy wrote: post #203
agigao wrote: post #140

Around 10 years ago, in college, in Calculus class I had a very ambitious classmate, wanted to go to DARPA and work on Robotics. I asked if he was thinking it through solely from technical perspective or considering ethics side as well. Clearly, he didn't understand the question and I directly inquired - what if the code you write or autonomous machine you contribute to used for killing? His response - that's not my…

See in your case with the military you can directly say, hey my code will be used to bomb other people possibly. But in today's times it isn't (I am sure even then) so cut and dry. I worked in AdTech industry (like 60% of the bay area techies). So the ad tech I write gets shown to millions/billions. What about ads influencing elections and then politicians waging wars? Anti-vax ads which influence people and then kil…

"But what is the option?"

Don't see money as the only goal?

Otherwise it ain't black and white.

There are forms of advertisment that are not so bad and there is a need for kill devices since there are lots of other existing kill devices. But this ad technology and this actual war ministry who take pride in revoking all "woke shit" like "rules of engagement" - I would not work for. There is other work, even if it pays less, but money ain't everything.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#457

Post by swed420 »

felipeerias wrote: post #202
simonw wrote: post #12

Raised an eyebrow a little at this sentence: "Anthropic has much more in common with the Department of War than we have differences."

As someone looking at this from outside the US, the whole sequence of events is frankly terrifying. I fear that frontier AI is going to be nationalised for military purposes, not just in the US but across the globe. At the same time, I really don’t know what Anthropic were expecting when they described their technology as potentially more dangerous than an atom bomb while agreeing to integrate purpose-built models wi…

Good cop/bad cop has proven very effective at manufacturing consent. The two political parties of capital interests have it down to a science. This is just the AI iteration playing out.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#458

Post by dhosek »

pjmlp wrote: post #444
jedberg wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gen-X was making the popular new art at the time. It was a strong reflection of the feelings of our generation. We were (maybe still are?) known for not liking authority.

As Gen-Xer I fully agree, I don't get the way things are with obedience, the rediculous situation that American families can lose their kids by having them playing alone in the garden, how everyone sells out for money (Punk would not happen today), the always smile and say no negatives at work being rediculous false (this one really drives me crazy),....

And yet Gen X is the demographic that fell hardest for Trump.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#459

Post by lukan »

MagicMoonlight wrote: post #393
agigao wrote: post #140

Around 10 years ago, in college, in Calculus class I had a very ambitious classmate, wanted to go to DARPA and work on Robotics. I asked if he was thinking it through solely from technical perspective or considering ethics side as well. Clearly, he didn't understand the question and I directly inquired - what if the code you write or autonomous machine you contribute to used for killing? His response - that's not my…

[flagged]

I think right now US warships are rather close to China than the other way around, so in china they can say, see, they are close to us, we need weapons and military training already in schools.

This is not about self defence, it is about dominance and raw power.

Re: Where things stand with the Department of War

#460

Post by vrganj »

MagicMoonlight wrote: post #393
agigao wrote: post #140

Around 10 years ago, in college, in Calculus class I had a very ambitious classmate, wanted to go to DARPA and work on Robotics. I asked if he was thinking it through solely from technical perspective or considering ethics side as well. Clearly, he didn't understand the question and I directly inquired - what if the code you write or autonomous machine you contribute to used for killing? His response - that's not my…

[flagged]

The last time the Chinese started a war of aggression was in 1979.

The last time the US did was a week ago.

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