Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance

(www.washingtonpost.com)

617 points jbegley | 1 comments | 04 Feb 25 20:28 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

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tmnvdb ◴[04 Feb 25 23:14 UTC] No.42940589[source]▶

Good, this idea that all weapons are evil is an insane luxury belief.

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siltcakes ◴[05 Feb 25 00:46 UTC] No.42941755[source]▶

>>42940589 #

Do you see nothing wrong with the same company that makes YouTube Kids making killer AI? I think creating weapons is often evil. I think companies that have consumer brands should never make weapons, at the very least it's white washing what's really going on. At worst, they can leverage their media properties for propaganda purposes, spy on your Gmail and Maps usage and act as a vector for the most nefarious cyber terrorism imaginable.

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1. greenavocado ◴[05 Feb 25 01:10 UTC] No.42942013[source]▶

>>42941755 #

The same company that brings you cute cartoons for kids might also develop technologies with military applications, but that doesn't make them inherently "evil." It just makes them a microcosm of humanity's duality: the same species that created the Mona Lisa also invented napalm.

Should companies with consumer brands never make weapons? Sure, and while we're at it, let's ban knives because they can be used for both chopping vegetables and stabbing people. The issue isn't the technology itself. It's how it's regulated, controlled, and used. And as for cyber terrorism? That's a problem with bad actors, not with the tools themselves.

So, by all means, keep pointing out the hypocrisy of a company that makes YouTube Kids and killer AI. Just don't pretend like you're not benefiting from the same duality every time you use a smartphone or the internet which don't forget is a technology born, ironically, from military research.

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