5 ms·

But we're all cool with Google helping with drone strikes, right?

by gaius 9y ago

NotSammyHagar 9y ago
i am not cool with it.
- gaius 9y ago
  Me neither - it was a rhetorical question
monocasa 9y ago
Was Google actually helping any more than just putting tensorflow on GitHub?
- RickS 9y ago
  If the Intercept is to be believed, yes: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/google-is-quietly-providing-ai-technology-for-drone-strike-targeting-project/ https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/google-is-quietly-provid... With that said, while I'm generally a fan of their work, they've reported on some things I have non-public knowledge of in a way that I would classify as disingenuous with the intent to enhance the appearance of wrongdoing.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    If the Intercept is to be believed Well, they cite a quote given to Bloomberg by a Google spokesperson.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  Yes. Otherwise there wouldn’t be an internal shitstorm.
feralmoan 9y ago
Its stupid to think these companies are anything less than evil. Look at Palantir's mission statement. gawd. lol.
- rockinghigh 9y ago
  For people wondering, it's "What We Believe".
lopmotr 9y ago
More significantly, "we're" all cool with US soldiers and anything they do to other countries. I don't understand the disconnect in "soldier good, army bad".
- ScipioAfricanus 9y ago
  How about you ask the people that US soldiers protect, like the people liberated from living under the dictatorship of Saddam, whether they're cool with US soldiers? It's so funny to see people ignore all the tremendous amount of good that US soldiers and the military have done in the modern era for different peoples and nations and obsessively focus on the relatively few individual bad actors and examples of clear military wrongdoing. It's naive.
  - glibgil 9y ago
    How long have you held these jingoistic opinions? The death toll from the American war in Iraq is somewhere between 150,000 to 460,000. Your views are very extreme. You might be radicalized and in need of an intervention
    - feralmoan 9y ago
      what!?
      - glibgil 9y ago
        I'll explain. OP has a problem where they see the members of the US military as virtuous because they "help" some people. But, militaries kill people which is the worst thing you can do to a person. OP has been radicalized by an ideology that the US military was a good influence in Iraq, but the opposite is true. The US military was very bad for Iraq. They directly and indirectly killed hundreds of thousands of people. This is a big fuck up. When people fuck up, they should apologize or be very quiet. OP is doing the opposite. OP is proud of the US military fucking up Iraq. OP is even claiming that Iraq did not get fucked up, but that it was helped. This is obviously impossible because being killed is not good for you.
jeffbax 9y ago
I am both wary of some of the projects being done in regards to surveillance, but also not delusional about the focus other nations militaries have in regards to these technologies. It's highly relevant for operations abroad, and whether those operations should happen or not is a separate problem than the military's technological capacity. There's a fine line here, but most of the outrage should go to Congress more than anyone. At the end of the day, while as an American aware that I disagree with many things the military and government does, it does not infuriate me that they are working with the best technology companies here to stay ahead (preferably) or at least par with what other nations are doing, especially when it comes to protecting US citizens abroad. No, that isn't a blank check of "anything soldiers do is infinitely defensible" but the seemingly 'noble' hobbling of US competitiveness seems out of line to me. I don't think it is an immediate crime for Google (a leader if there ever was one in these spaces) to do projects with them. If employees have issues with it, then they can request to not be on those projects/teams or seek employment elsewhere, but the notion that it is inherently evil to do work with the government or military is absurd to me.
- gaius 9y ago
  he notion that it is inherently evil to do work with the government or military is absurd to me No-one is asserting that.
  - jayliew 9y ago
    What are you asserting then, exactly?

But we're all cool with Google helping with drone strikes, right?

by gaius 9y ago

But we're all cool with Google helping with drone strikes, right?

NotSammyHagar 9y ago

i am not cool with it.

gaius 9y ago
Me neither - it was a rhetorical question

monocasa 9y ago

Was Google actually helping any more than just putting tensorflow on GitHub?

RickS 9y ago
If the Intercept is to be believed, yes: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/google-is-quietly-providing-ai-technology-for-drone-strike-targeting-project/ https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/google-is-quietly-provid... With that said, while I'm generally a fan of their work, they've reported on some things I have non-public knowledge of in a way that I would classify as disingenuous with the intent to enhance the appearance of wrongdoing.
- icebraining 9y ago
  If the Intercept is to be believed Well, they cite a quote given to Bloomberg by a Google spokesperson.
throwaway84742 9y ago
Yes. Otherwise there wouldn’t be an internal shitstorm.

feralmoan 9y ago

Its stupid to think these companies are anything less than evil. Look at Palantir's mission statement. gawd. lol.

rockinghigh 9y ago
For people wondering, it's "What We Believe".

lopmotr 9y ago

More significantly, "we're" all cool with US soldiers and anything they do to other countries. I don't understand the disconnect in "soldier good, army bad".

ScipioAfricanus 9y ago
How about you ask the people that US soldiers protect, like the people liberated from living under the dictatorship of Saddam, whether they're cool with US soldiers? It's so funny to see people ignore all the tremendous amount of good that US soldiers and the military have done in the modern era for different peoples and nations and obsessively focus on the relatively few individual bad actors and examples of clear military wrongdoing. It's naive.
- glibgil 9y ago
  How long have you held these jingoistic opinions? The death toll from the American war in Iraq is somewhere between 150,000 to 460,000. Your views are very extreme. You might be radicalized and in need of an intervention
  - feralmoan 9y ago
    what!?
    - glibgil 9y ago
      I'll explain. OP has a problem where they see the members of the US military as virtuous because they "help" some people. But, militaries kill people which is the worst thing you can do to a person. OP has been radicalized by an ideology that the US military was a good influence in Iraq, but the opposite is true. The US military was very bad for Iraq. They directly and indirectly killed hundreds of thousands of people. This is a big fuck up. When people fuck up, they should apologize or be very quiet. OP is doing the opposite. OP is proud of the US military fucking up Iraq. OP is even claiming that Iraq did not get fucked up, but that it was helped. This is obviously impossible because being killed is not good for you.

jeffbax 9y ago

I am both wary of some of the projects being done in regards to surveillance, but also not delusional about the focus other nations militaries have in regards to these technologies. It's highly relevant for operations abroad, and whether those operations should happen or not is a separate problem than the military's technological capacity. There's a fine line here, but most of the outrage should go to Congress more than anyone. At the end of the day, while as an American aware that I disagree with many things the military and government does, it does not infuriate me that they are working with the best technology companies here to stay ahead (preferably) or at least par with what other nations are doing, especially when it comes to protecting US citizens abroad. No, that isn't a blank check of "anything soldiers do is infinitely defensible" but the seemingly 'noble' hobbling of US competitiveness seems out of line to me. I don't think it is an immediate crime for Google (a leader if there ever was one in these spaces) to do projects with them. If employees have issues with it, then they can request to not be on those projects/teams or seek employment elsewhere, but the notion that it is inherently evil to do work with the government or military is absurd to me.

gaius 9y ago
he notion that it is inherently evil to do work with the government or military is absurd to me No-one is asserting that.
- jayliew 9y ago
  What are you asserting then, exactly?