Thread

Pentagon says overreliance on AI contributed to missile strike on Iran school

974 points · 553 comments · devonnull

63 · 1790106616 · focus · HN ↗
It's easy to blame the military and the higher-ups, after all they made this choice. But more relevant to HN, this couldn't have happened without technology professionals working for Palantir.
> A Palantir spokesperson told Bloomberg the company “is not responsible for the underlying data nor identifying intelligence deficiencies” and that there is no evidence its software was at fault.
If you work for Palantir, you are writing software that kills people. Software that, in this case, killed 123 children. What salary is worth that?
I encourage others who work in the public sector, whether directly or through a contractor, to read and internalize Don't Get Distracted by Caleb Hearth [0]. I think about it nearly every day.
[0] <a href="https://calebhearth.com/dont-get-distracted" rel="nofollow">https://calebhearth.com/dont-get-distracted
1. PorciiVorbesc · 1790107230 · focus · HN ↗
  >It's easy to blame the military and the higher-ups
  My brother in Cthulu, they're the ones making the life or death decision that killed people, who else should be to blame?
  >But more relevant to HN, this couldn't have happened without technology professionals working for Palantir.
  If you wanna go the historical tech-tree scapegoat route then none of this would have happened if DARPA wouldn't have invented the internet, or if Thomas Edison wouldn't have invented the lightbulb, or if the fish haven't ventured onto land and evolve into us land mammal apes who invented sharpened sticks as murder objects.
  1. cogman10 · 1790108693 · focus · HN ↗
    Look, if Palantir had any redeeming qualities then I might agree with you. Unlike electricity which runs our computers, homes, cars, etc. What does Palantir do? It spies on people and helps governments to create "people we don't like" lists. In the absolute best case it's a "minority report" engine, but it's still just there to try and stop pre-crime (not crime).
    This isn't the case where we are talking about a company doing anything socially good. It's simply there to help authoritarian governments.
    PorciiVorbesc · 1790108894 · focus · HN ↗
    Palantir only exists because government wants and funds these types of tools. If it Palantir wouldn't exist then another dozen companies with different names would exist that would create the same Torment Nexus for the government due to inexhaustible demand for such tools.
    >It's simply there to help authoritarian governments.
    The fact that you're so close yet so far away to figuring out who's to blame still boggles my mind.
    smackeyacky · 1790113583 · focus · HN ↗
    Are you implying that the demand for these evil services absolves the suppliers from any moral responsibility? Simply because “if we don’t do this somebody else will”.
    It’s an evil service and no matter who requests it or supplies it, doing so is an evil act.
    PorciiVorbesc · 1790113861 · focus · HN ↗
    >Are you implying that the demand for these evil services absolves the suppliers from any moral responsibility?
    No, you are implying that. I'm saying that evil are (primarily) those who use it, not (just) those who make it. You can try to make whatever you want, if nobody will buy it to fund it, then you won't have money to make it, so your evil thign won't exist. Palantir only exists because governments are evil and willing to fund it to buy it and use it. If you want likes of Palantir to not exist then you need to hold your government accountable to not spend money on evil things.
    Are gun makers evil and responsible whenever someone gets killed by a murderer, or are those who pull the trigger responsible for who they kill?
    smackeyacky · 1790114243 · focus · HN ↗
    I absolutely knew you’d bring up guns and gun making but it’s not a valid comparison. If the gun companies were also involved in the actual shooting of people part that would work.
    Palantir were in no way obliged or coerced into making an evil thing, they just decided being evil for money was ok.
    _heimdall · 1790153678 · focus · HN ↗
    Would you hold that same line for individuals that built weapons, planes, bombs, etc in past wars?
    Companies that make bombs aren't forced to (usually), and they also know there's only really one use for a bomb.

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