Military AI’s Next Frontier: Your Work Computer | Hacker News Reader

Military AI’s Next Frontier: Your Work Computer

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Defense Contractor* AI's Next Frontier

Big difference between private companies shifting to the private sector and the U.S. military engaging in union busting.

In the US these days, I think it's fair to consider military contractors as part of "the military".

Other than they are privy to government secrets they aren't anymore "the military" in this context than say, airlines or aircraft manufacturers are the Federal Aviation Administration.

Also not sure how U.S. defense contractors are so different from any other country.

> they aren't anymore "the military" in this context

There is a bit of a difference in that the US military seems to avoid taking much responsibility for what their contractors do. I was pushing back on the notion that just because a military contractor does it, the military has no responsibility for it.

> Also not sure how U.S. defense contractors are so different from any other country.

I only specified US because I'm in the US and that's what I'm most familiar with. I often get scolded by international readers when I leave that qualifier out, so I try to remember to include it.

I was not saying that any other nation is different. I was making no comment on any other nation.

This seems silly. We don't get mad at the military if the manufacturer selling 9mm handguns to the DOD also sells to local police and store security guards. We would get mad if weapons manufacturers sold Abrams tanks and ICMBs to local police and store security, but we still wouldn't blame the military for that. We'd blame the sellers for selling it, the users for using it, and the law for not stopping it.

If we don't want Amazon or whoever to use intelligence capabilities originally designed for military use to bust unions, then legislatures need to ban the sale and use of these technologies to and by private actors. It isn't the responsibility of the military to do that.

This headline really is total bullshit that’s entirely divorced from the reality of the situation they describe.

I don’t mean to say there isn’t a story here, there absolutely is, it’s just not the one represented by the headline.

The story is actually about employers trying to do some really sketchy shit and trying to use the kinds of network analysis techniques that are typically used in a counter terrorism investigation to uncover employees trying to unionize along with the kind of morally bankrupt companies who are selling them the kind of software to help them do that.

Pretty aggrandizing claims. It also reflects a poor understanding how the military works. A bigger problem in America but beyond the scope of this comment.

The military was raked over the coals for years about how wasteful is was to build bespoke software when cots was cheaper and better.

Now 20 yrs later the military has done once again done too well and we should all be so very afraid of the intersection between cots software and ... cots software.

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