Slashdot Mirror
Google Is Helping the Pentagon Build AI for Drones (gizmodo.com)
Google has partnered with the United States Department of Defense to help the agency develop artificial intelligence for analyzing drone footage, a move that set off a firestorm among employees of the technology giant when they learned of Google's involvement, Gizmodo reported on Tuesday. From the report: Google's pilot project with the Defense Department's Project Maven, an effort to identify objects in drone footage, has not been previously reported, but it was discussed widely within the company last week when information about the project was shared on an internal mailing list, according to sources who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the project. Some Google employees were outraged that the company would offer resources to the military for surveillance technology involved in drone operations, sources said, while others argued that the project raised important ethical questions about the development and use of machine learning.
.... is the motto of Google's corporate code of conduct, first introduced around 2000. ...
“There’s a general concern in the tech community of somehow the military-industrial complex using their stuff to kill people incorrectly”
If there's ever a sentence where one word changes the entire context of a statement, it's that one - and the last word.
That word is redundant from the perspective of the tech community, but extraordinarily menacing when tacked on to the statement like that.
Don't be evil. Incorrectly.
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
The fact is, early warfare involved enslaving the men and raping the women. It was focused on the people one was attacking.
Later came wide-area bombing of industrial areas and strategic targets such as bridges, trying to destroy the enemy's ability to wage war against you.
Indiscriminate bombing ala WWII is now illegal under international law. Developed nations recently begun to wage war by sending laser-guided bombs to destroy a particular part of a building which is militarily important, perhaps targeting an single room. The US often notifies civilians ahead of time to stay clear of the area.
The new way to wage war, currently being developed as the first "cold" wars are fought this way, is to send packets to your enemy's servers and try to make their computers stop working right.
The trend line is very much AWAY from "guns/bombs into a combat area, and the killing anyone resisting". Indeed over the last 50 years military doctrine in the west has been that a long-term win requires changing the "hearts and minds" of the populace in the opposing country, "winning them over". Killing is minimized. The thinking over the last 50 years is that the more of your enemy your kill, the more they'll be seeking and getting revenge later. So better to take out their military capability, then immediately start building schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure to make them your friends.
The history of the US vs Germany and Japan indicates it may in fact be possible, and even more effective, to win by ending the war as quickly as possible by destroying their ability to fight *even at the cost of civilian lives in the short term*. Then make friends with them the best you can. Massive force which causes the enemy to quickly stop trying to fight may in the end up costing fewer lives than trying to carefully and slowly pick off military targets without hurting civilians, resulting in a decade-long war. Precision strikes are, and have been, the trend, though.