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You’d have to think there was some middle ground between investigating and adding ethical accountability to AI programs and exfiltrating thousands of sensitive

You’d have to think there was some middle ground between investigating and adding ethical accountability to AI programs and exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files.

saalweachter 6y ago
Tangential anecdote. I was reading a book about dry stone bridges, and one of the bridges featured was built across a stream in a protected watershed. The builder said he was surprised the permit for it was approved, he told the client to expect it to be rejected. Talking to the government bureaucrats & scientists, he found out that they had to approve a permit every now and then. Not just because of political reasons, but strategic ones -- if they denied every permit, people would start ignoring and circumventing their department. By approving one every once in a while, they kept themselves in the loop as gatekeepers and prevented more harm than they would have by denying everything. His own bridge project was minimally harmful, and was the token approval so they could keep denying the real problem applications. I feel like there's a lesson there for other gatekeepers trying to fight the good fight.
- tjalfi 6y ago
  This sounds like an interesting read, what's the title of the book?
  - saalweachter 6y ago
    I think it was from "How To Build Dry-Stacked Stone Walls" by John Shaw-Rimmington, but I pick up nearly every book I see on the topic so I can't be sure.
joshuamorton 6y ago
In this context, it's very likely that you can translate "exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files" to "downloaded some of her emails", perhaps related to fear of retaliation
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  That is the same thing? In large companies I have never been allowed to export my emails, since it could be used to do this very exact thing.
  - joshuamorton 6y ago
    The point is that "exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files" can mean many things. It can mean, for example, downloading one's emails to have an independent record of them for fear of retaliation. It can also mean stealing company IP to try and start a competitor. Both may be equally forbidden by policy, but they're vastly different acts.

You’d have to think there was some middle ground between investigating and adding ethical accountability to AI programs and exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files.

saalweachter 6y ago

Tangential anecdote. I was reading a book about dry stone bridges, and one of the bridges featured was built across a stream in a protected watershed. The builder said he was surprised the permit for it was approved, he told the client to expect it to be rejected. Talking to the government bureaucrats & scientists, he found out that they had to approve a permit every now and then. Not just because of political reasons, but strategic ones -- if they denied every permit, people would start ignoring and circumventing their department. By approving one every once in a while, they kept themselves in the loop as gatekeepers and prevented more harm than they would have by denying everything. His own bridge project was minimally harmful, and was the token approval so they could keep denying the real problem applications. I feel like there's a lesson there for other gatekeepers trying to fight the good fight.

tjalfi 6y ago
This sounds like an interesting read, what's the title of the book?
- saalweachter 6y ago
  I think it was from "How To Build Dry-Stacked Stone Walls" by John Shaw-Rimmington, but I pick up nearly every book I see on the topic so I can't be sure.

joshuamorton 6y ago

In this context, it's very likely that you can translate "exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files" to "downloaded some of her emails", perhaps related to fear of retaliation

NikolaeVarius 6y ago
That is the same thing? In large companies I have never been allowed to export my emails, since it could be used to do this very exact thing.
- joshuamorton 6y ago
  The point is that "exfiltrating thousands of sensitive files" can mean many things. It can mean, for example, downloading one's emails to have an independent record of them for fear of retaliation. It can also mean stealing company IP to try and start a competitor. Both may be equally forbidden by policy, but they're vastly different acts.