Google scraps AI project with Pentagon after employees revolt

[Okjoek]

Source

https://www.rt.com/usa/428545-google-pentagon-scrap-project/

 

Quotes

Quote

"Diane Greene, the CEO of Google Cloud, said the tech giant won’t renew its contract with the Pentagon, Gizmodo and the New York Times report citing sources."

 

Quote

"According to the information, during a weekly staff meeting, Greene explicitly cited the backlash among Google employees over ties with the US Defense Department, "

 

My opinion

Making this post from my phone at work so I may edit this when I get home, but I think this is good news.

[Misanthrope]

Sorry but "Scraps" and "won't renew" mean two profoundly different things. According to the article it will be 2019 until the on-going contract expires. It's only a small consession to say that they won't renew the contract but

 

1) I'll believe it when that time comes and

 

2) I would certainly not go back to work at Google or continue to work for them for just a token promise of stopping.

[Guest]

Introducing another new subsidy of Alphabet!

[Mira Yurizaki]

10 minutes ago, [REDACTED] said:

Introducing another new subsidy of Alphabet!

That's probably what they'll do considering I don't think the general public knows that Google has been a subsidiary of another company.

[Wh0_Am_1]

15 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

Source

https://www.rt.com/usa/428545-google-pentagon-scrap-project/

 

Quotes

 

 

My opinion

Making this post from my phone at work so I may edit this when I get home, but I think this is good news.

*facepalm*  Google...

[Okjoek]

13 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Sorry but "Scraps" and "won't renew" mean two profoundly different things. According to the article it will be 2019 until the on-going contract expires. It's only a small consession to say that they won't renew the contract but

 

1) I'll believe it when that time comes and

 

2) I would certainly not go back to work at Google or continue to work for them for just a token promise of stopping.

True.

 

I'll take my wins wherever I can though.

[suicidalfranco]

sad, guess the lives of soldiers don't matter to this people

[Ryujin2003]

Just now, suicidalfranco said:

sad, guess the lives of soldiers don't matter to this people

No, people automatically jump to this technology being used to indiscriminately kill "innocent" people....

It's ok, I know if a few other interested parties that probably won't have conflict of interest.

 

Additionally, anything Google does on contract for the government, yes stop actively developing by 2019, but in my experience, there is going to be an additional 5ish years of support that goes beyond the initial active contact date.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, suicidalfranco said:

sad, guess the lives of soldiers don't matter to this people

On one hand, there's the military application that does this.

 

On the other, you can't guarantee the government will just take this technology and turn it around to use on something you don't agree with. Once it's government funded, all of the rights to that project are given to the government to do whatever they want with it. This includes going to your competitors and going "go work on this thing the other guy did."

[Daegun]

6 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

sad, guess the lives of soldiers don't matter to this people

 

[Misanthrope]

21 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

True.

 

I'll take my wins wherever I can though.

I agree with the sentiment, only the wherever is not the only important part but the whenever too: So if they truly cancel it by 2019 then at that point we can take it as an "It's something" move, right now? It's a PR move to appease the public but they haven't actually done anything yet.

[Cole5]

47 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

sad, guess the lives of soldiers don't matter to this people

I mean, yes, thats true, But also I'de prefer the US to not have a self learning weapon

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 hours ago, Cole5 said:

I mean, yes, thats true, But also I'de prefer the US to not have a self learning weapon

Well, let me know when an AI has complete authority over the big red button.

[Cole5]

33 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Well, let me know when an AI has complete authority over the big red button.

We would be better off than we are now

[Arika]

tomorrow's headline

 

"Google sells AI and DoD contract to Facebook"

[MadyTehWolfie]

Probably just a setback. If Google won't do it they'll find someone else to do it/finish it.

[LAwLz]

I can see where the backlash is coming from, but at the same time I don't see the big deal that was made out to be.

 

At the end of the day, the technology will be developed regardless. Google helping or not will just end up speeding up the development time, and/or increase the accuracy of the system.

You can't just look at these situations as "we should boycott it and everything will be fine in the world". There are only two options:

1) This system gets developed quicker and more accurately, with Google's help.

2) This system gets developed over a long time and possibly have more issues, without Google's help.

 

There is no:

3) Google doesn't help and the entire project gets abandoned.

option, even though people seem to think that way.

 

 

Also, hopefully this will be an alarm bell to the idiotic and naive people who just think data collection is about showing "relevant ads".

It's about so much more, and that goes for Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other companies that collects copious amounts of data on people.

[Doobeedoo]

Welp, they can just make a new subsidiary

[jde3]

AI is fraud.. In my opinion it's the modern version of skip logic.

 

That being said... What did Google think *the pentagon* was going to use it for if not a weapon? I hope it's Liberty Prime, we need that.

[Mira Yurizaki]

While I'm not sure where this technology would go, keep in mind that a lot of technology you use (in fact, the very one you use to access this website), came from defense industry funding.

 

Our hope is we find a peaceful use for this technology, that's how we evolve as a civilization.

[jde3]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

While I'm not sure where this technology would go, keep in mind that a lot of technology you use (in fact, the very one you use to access this website), came from defense industry funding.

 

Our hope is we find a peaceful use for this technology, that's how we evolve as a civilization.

Sure, Today's weapons are tomorrows kitchen appliances. Technology trickles down.

 

The technology also came from hippies at UC Berkeley too though.. jes sayin.

[Teddy07]

I have no issue working for the military. I mean, if I don´t do the job another person surely will.

[suicidalfranco]

18 hours ago, Daegun said:

 

Not really.

Just believe that if tech can increase the chances of soldier coming back alive and unharmed, then we should fund such tech.

 

Hopefully another company will take Google's place and bring this to live.

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, suicidalfranco said:

Not really.

Just believe that if tech can increase the chances of soldier coming back alive and unharmed, then we should fund such tech.

 

Hopefully another company will take Google's place and bring this to live.

If saving those lives comes at the cost of taking more from the "enemy" (or even civilians) maybe it's not worth it... perhaps a lot more lives would be spared if the pentagon minded its own business instead of sticking its nose bombs in every single conflict of the middle east - it would have helped even more if the US hadn't played a major role in destabilizing that whole region.

1 hour ago, Teddy07 said:

I have no issue working for the military. I mean, if I don´t do the job another person surely will.

And this is how pretty much every major atrocity in the history of mankind was allowed to happen...

1 hour ago, jde3 said:

AI is fraud.. In my opinion it's the modern version of skip logic.

What do you mean? AI is a legitimate field of research and it has shown plenty of promising results for a variety of different tasks. Whether or not it's always "the right tool for the job" is debatable but it's definitely not a "fraud"...

20 hours ago, [REDACTED] said:

Introducing another new subsidy of Alphabet!

"Dormammu, inc" will help spread technology in crisis zones (through carpet bombings if necessary)!

[jde3]

4 minutes ago, Sauron said:

What do you mean? AI is a legitimate field of research and it has shown plenty of promising results for a variety of different tasks. Whether or not it's always "the right tool for the job" is debatable but it's definitely not a "fraud"...

Sure man.. Machines don't learn at least not like we do. They basically follow instructions and the "algos" we all think are so great are pretty busted to be honest. It's a trend and a marketing term, nothing more. Skip logic.