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We had submissions from two Soylentils concerning recent employee reaction to Google's participation in the Pentagon's "Project Maven" program:
Google Workers Urge C.E.O. to Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. Project
Submitted via IRC for fyngyrz
Thousands of Google employees, including dozens of senior engineers, have signed a letter protesting the company's involvement in a Pentagon program that uses artificial intelligence to interpret video imagery and could be used to improve the targeting of drone strikes.
The letter [pdf], which is circulating inside Google and has garnered more than 3,100 signatures, reflects a culture clash between Silicon Valley and the federal government that is likely to intensify as cutting-edge artificial intelligence is increasingly employed for military purposes.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/technology/google-letter-ceo-pentagon-project.html
Google Employees on Pentagon AI Algorithms: "Google Should Not be in the Business of War"
Thousands of Google employees have signed a letter protesting the development of "Project Maven", which would use machine learning algorithms to analyze footage from U.S. military drones:
Last month, it was announced that Google was offering its resources to the US Department of Defense for Project Maven, a research initiative to develop computer vision algorithms that can analyze drone footage. In response, more than 3,100 Google employees have signed a letter urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to reevaluate the company's involvement, as "Google should not be in the business of war," as reported by The New York Times.
Work on Project Maven began last April, and while details on what Google is actually providing to the DOD are not clear, it is understood that it's a Pentagon research initiative for improved analysis of drone footage. In a press statement, a Google spokesperson confirmed that the company was giving the DOD access to its open-source TensorFlow software, used in machine learning applications that are capable of understanding the contents of photos.
Previously: Google vs Maven
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Thursday April 05 2018, @06:35PM (6 children)
Wow. Talk about "doing it wrong."
If a retired person has nothing to do, that's entirely their choice, or fault – you absolutely do not need to be "in harness" to be busy and productive and happy. None of this has anything whatsoever to do with retirement. Retirement means you can freely choose what you will do within the bounds of your available resources, one of which is time, and which is now entirely yours to allocate. If you choose in such a way as to gift yourself with an "empty, meaningless existence", that's not a consequence of being retired: it's a consequence of your empty, meaningless choices.
The only reason in the world for a retired person to spend time "lying around the house" is if they want to. You don't want to? Then don't, FFS.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:00PM
Volunteer work would not count as "in harness". A physically and mentally active volunteer gig could lead to you living longer [oregonstate.edu], meaning more expenses out of your retirement funds. But it would at least fulfill Runaway's desire to not live an empty, meaningless existence, perhaps moreso than working for "the Man".
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:06PM (4 children)
Uh-huh. I've seen a fair number of people retire. Precious few of them retain any real drive in life. Not for more than five years, anyway. Most of them just grow old, and wither away.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:31PM
Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
Sorry, had to be said.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:34PM
That is because you were trained like rats in a lab. Want your money pellets? Run that wheel bitch!
So when you are no longer needed you have no clue what to do with your life because you spent all your time and energy doing the corporate bidding.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday April 05 2018, @09:00PM (1 child)
I've seen both sorts. Those who have no drive post-retirement do generally wither away. Those able to manufacture their own purposes in a satisfying way thrive. Everyone has the choice, though, regardless of their life circumstances - you can [almost] always find something useful to do with your life if you apply yourself.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 06 2018, @01:45AM
One prime example is former President Jimmy Carter, he seems to have had a very interesting retirement, so far.