Seems to me that a number of Google services are probably already significantly utilized in military applications....but what do I know.



About a dozen Google employees are resigning in protest over the tech giant’s involvement in Project Maven, a controversial military program that uses artificial intelligence, Gizmodo reports.

Project Maven, which harnesses AI to improve drone targeting, has been a source of concern for a number of Google employees. Last month, over 3,100 Google workers signed a letter to the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai asking him to pull the tech giant out of the project.

Announced last year, Project Maven is designed to swiftly pull important data from vast quantities of imagery.

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The resigning employees’ concerns ranges from ethical worries about the use of AI in drone warfare to qualms about Google’s political decisions and a potential erosion of user trust, according to Gizmodo.

The tech news website cites an internal Google document containing written accounts from many of the employees that details their decisions to leave. Multiple sources have reportedly shared the document’s contents with Gizmodo.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm is said to be using machine learning to help the Department of Defense classify images captured by drones.

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Google, however, “should not be in the business of war,” according to the letter to Pichai that was signed by thousands of disgruntled employees. “Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology,” the letter said, according to the New York Times.

The Google workers also noted the company's well-known former motto, "Don’t be evil," warning that Project Maven “will irreparably damage Google’s brand and its ability to compete for talent.”

The New York Times reported last month that the letter was circulating within Google.

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The Department of Defense has said that its workforce is overwhelmed by incoming data, particularly video imagery.

“Although we have taken tentative steps to explore the potential of artificial intelligence, big data and deep learning,” then-Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work wrote in an April 2017 memo discussing Project Maven. “I remain convinced that we need to do much more and move much faster across DoD to take advantage of recent and future advances in these critical areas.”

Google has not yet responded to a request for comment on this story from Fox News.


http://www.foxnews.com/tech/20...ect-report-says.html

What a shocker...employees of Google, arguably a massive data mining operation in and of itself have qualms about working with the military on something that could be used to potentially kill terrorists and keep soldiers safe.

With the profit potential, I wonder who the CEO will side with...

With 3100 employees signing the petition I would be worried about some sort of internal sabotage. I can see some hidden or incomplete computer code showing up at a mission critical time.

Fire them all

yep, get rid of them all

they don't determine the direction of Google, the CEO will

Google doesn't need to employ these people

I did not note anything in the article to indicate whether any of the resigning, or 3100 signing, employees are actually working on the project, or in any way important to the success of the project or Google.

So that's where they draw the line...pretty funny stuff.

Good though I wish the article didn't show an MQ-1.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Fire them all

Sounds like a winner to me. Only left leaning elites would think that they are the only ones capable of doing this important work. There are plenty of capable people who don’t lean left and aren’t foreign nationals.

Hope they don't let the door hit them in the uh, rear on their way out.

Won't take long to replace them.

So they're perfectly fine data mining every American with a cell phone and giving that info to Big Brother, but taking a DoD contract violates their conscience?

quote:

Originally posted by XinTX:
So they're perfectly fine data mining every American with a cell phone and giving that info to Big Brother, but taking a DoD contract violates their conscience?

You wrote exactly what I was thinking.

Those employees are going to find out just how important they actually aren't.

Most people are shocked when they leave and the wheels don't come off. Google will be fine and these folks can take their opinion to their next job.

quote:

The Google workers also noted the company's well-known former motto, "Don’t be evil," warning that Project Maven “will irreparably damage Google’s brand and its ability to compete for talent.”

Don't be evil? Too late, that ship sailed a long time ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Echtermetzger:

quote:

The Google workers also noted the company's well-known former motto, "Don’t be evil," warning that Project Maven “will irreparably damage Google’s brand and its ability to compete for talent.”

Don't be evil? Too late, that ship sailed a long time ago.

A very long time ago.

I don't regard Alphabet (Google) as quite as Evil as I've traditionally viewed, say, Microsoft , but close. Damn close.

Ahhh I needed a little amusement today. I'm sure the CEO of Google is all broken up over these sissies and their little protest.

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Jacket:
Hope they don't let the door hit them in the uh, rear on their way out.

Won't take long to replace them.

Don't let the door hit ya' where the Good Lord split ya'.

And this "resigning" threat is, probably, as solid as that line Obama drew for the Syrians.

quote:

Those employees are going to find out just how important they actually aren't.

Quoted for truth.