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The weapons, perched over a crowded Palestinian refugee camp and in a flashpoint West Bank city, use artificial intelligence to track targets. AI + guns, what
by sfusato 4y ago
The weapons, perched over a crowded Palestinian refugee camp and in a flashpoint West Bank city, use artificial intelligence to track targets.
AI + guns, what could go wrong?! Towards the end of the article, they make it sound like it's for the good of the oppressed. I guess we have a good contender for a future Nobel peace prize award.
It also said the technology allows soldiers to target "less sensitive" areas of the body to minimize harm and avoid shooting bystanders.
"In this way, the system reduces the likelihood of inaccurate fire," it said.
- realgeniushere 4y agoBig difference between automated tracking and automatic firing.
- thatguy0900 4y agoThe difference is a few lines of code
- glonq 4y agoTBF the difference between many does-good-things and does-bad-things systems is a few lines of code. A few lines of code can turn an X-Ray machine into a death machine. A drivers assistance system into a kamikaze car. An industrial automation system into a bomb.
- thinkmcfly 4y agoThis simply isn't the case for the X-ray machines you'd find in a hospital or at a dentist's office. Industrial equipment though? Sure
- PaulHoule 4y agoSee https://hackaday.com/2015/10/26/killed-by-a-machine-the-therac-25/ https://hackaday.com/2015/10/26/killed-by-a-machine-the-ther...
- hirsin 4y agoThose things are not built for the express purpose of killing people. There is no manual button on the outside of the xray marked "kill patient" that's at risk of being automated away. No "aim for pedestrians" button in the Tesla that a developer will choose to finish implementing in code. Like, yes, this is a thing that could happen, and has, we call them bugs. But the companies building those products aren't in the business of making that outcome occur. These developers and companies are in the business of helping make people die and I'd bet significant sums this is already tracked in a backlog issue or behind a //.
- realgeniushere 4y agoSo what is your point? Why is automated target tracking bad exactly? I’m not saying it’s not, but I don’t see how your argument is different from “all weapons bad”.
- hirsin 4y agoThe point is that "you can invert the rewards signal on a Tesla and turn it into a people mower" isn't exactly a dunk on the point above them. We're not worried about Tesla having (someday accurate) people detection because we're not worried about them using it to kill people more efficiently. Indeed, generally people want Tesla to get very good at that! So automated tracking is bad when attached to a gun because it more easily enables the rest of the concerns laid out in the thread. It's not some hobbyist "paintball the squirells in my yard", but a government-purchased, corporation built project with an explicit, obvious goal in mind. Disregarding that because many other things _could_ be used for bad with a couple lines of code is not the right call, imo.
- booblik 4y agoSo don’t you want a gun to hit the target with no collateral damage? Imagine a different use-case, for example a mass shooter in a crowd. Where an AI controlled gum can take out the shooter and not the victims, the way police occasionally do.
- karmakaze 4y agoHope fail-safes get thought out more than this one[0]. [0] https://youtube.com/watch/Ip7GGf2_b6Y https://youtube.com/watch/Ip7GGf2_b6Y
- PradeetPatel 4y ago>Towards the end of the article, they make it sound like it's for the good of the oppressed. I guess we have a good contender for a future Nobel peace prize award. Isn't that the point a well written PR article? To inform and to persuade? As someone who have done some reputation management work with the defense sector and firms that offer private peacekeeping solutions, it is crucial to shape the narrative early to avoid misunderstanding from the general public.
- AzzieElbab 4y agoAnyone curious how a Palestinian refugee camp can exist under Palestinian authority 70 years after the war that made those ppl refugees? Are they going to stay refugees forever?
- myth_drannon 4y ago
- 19h 4y agoSorry, this is just wrong. Many of my relatives lived their entire lives in Ain al-Hilweh (palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon) and not only aren't they getting Lebanese passports as palestinians, they can not work nor own property in Lebanon. If at all, they can buy temporary "passports" for Oman and work there as engineers for Oil refineries and rigs. They're not dedicating their lifes to "hate and terror" -- they want a normal life and they aren't allowed to.
- AzzieElbab 4y agoSorry to hear about conditions in Lebanon, but that particular camp is under Palestinian authority territory in the West Bank. What does the legal situation look like there?
- tsol 4y ago>to avoid misunderstanding Whether it's misunderstanding or proper understanding, is up for debate.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoSounds good to me. Soldiers controlling the thing can make smarter decisions if they aren't in imminent danger. If you are standing post and perceive a threat you cannot afford to wait and see. This is just a piece of equipment and ROEs can hopefully be more relaxed.
- throw827474737 4y agoOh wow.. double wow to people seeing it like that. :(
- doctor_eval 4y agoI did a double take too, but I think they meant the rules of engagement can be “more relaxed” as in, to relax the envelope in order to make engagement less likely, rather than relaxing the rules of engagement in order to make engagement more likely.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoCould you please elaborate?
- musicale 4y ago> the absence of international norms for "killer robots" is problematic nonsense, they're totally bug-free