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Programmers make these tools. When challenging said programmers who work for companies that promote this kind of behavior (G) they suggest that they work for th
by pnw_hazor 7y ago
Programmers make these tools. When challenging said programmers who work for companies that promote this kind of behavior (G) they suggest that they work for these evil companies because their job is interesting and it pays well.
This practice could stop tomorrow if the best and brightest of us decided so.
- luckylion 7y agoI doubt that. If "the best and the brightest" wouldn't do it, the second best and second brightest would be asked. At some point, somebody will do it. Also, isn't Google already selecting for moral flexibility? I find it hard to believe that a principled developer would start at Google, much like a pacifist engineer wouldn't work at a Pentagon contractor. So they are getting the best and the brightest whose limits of what they won't do because of personal ethics don't include ad tech, surveillance etc. I'm not so sure that education would help either, it's my impression that ethics is just individually set. Of the people that understand Kant's categorical imperative, some will act accordingly and others will ignore their knowledge because doing so gets them more money.