
Microsoft Workers Protest Army Contract with Tech 'Designed to Help People Kill' - vector_spaces
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/22/697110641/microsoft-workers-protest-army-contract-with-tech-designed-to-help-people-kill
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hevi_jos
The problem with killing more efficiently is that after a point you don't know
if you are improving your situation or worsening it.

There is this tv series in Amazon about Einstein life and you could see him
opposing using his knowledge to improve weapons, while Haber(creator of Bosh
Haber process) did not.

Haber was probably murdered while traveling by secret services in the same way
the US killed engineers of Iran nuclear program openly. His wife and son
committed suicide because of his work.

As a technical person with decades of experience in science you can do
enormous harm if you really want. All you really need is a powerful reason for
that.

If you see other countries developing so strong weapons they could invade your
country with no cost for them, this is a powerful reason for you to
collaborate.

The US has focused so much in developing force that is seen more and more in
the world as the bully while countries like China build bridges, ports or
roads.

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lykr0n
You think China isn't using it's tech industry to further it's own defense and
surveillance projects? That what you seem to imply?

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avmich
No, the implication is that US uses its prowess disproportionally to advance
its military abilities.

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PopeDotNinja
At Rubyconf a few years ago, I saw a talk about writing software for
controlling drones. As I remember it, the speaker configured the drone to
"lock on" to his face & follow his movements. It was more unsettling than I
expected.

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arthurcolle
Do you remember who the speaker was?

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PopeDotNinja
Ruby On Robots Using Artoo by Ron Evans:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhXyNGX38mw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhXyNGX38mw)

Here's the drone video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp7czxk52bI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp7czxk52bI)

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Fej
Whether you agree with this sentiment or not, people waking up to ethical
questions in our field is unquestionably a good thing. It's important to ask
these questions.

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mindcrash
Countries all around the world, including the United States armed forces, are
using Microsoft software in things "designed to help people kill" _for years_
but now the US Army under Trump has a contract with Microsoft it now becomes a
problem?

We have a word for that in the dictionary, it is called hypocrisy.

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haggy
You're trying to tie Trump's administration to this? How? It just sounds like
you're a trump supporter trying to cry "stop picking on us".

Ethical concerns raised by developers are an increasingly common occurance
that have nothing to do with the current presidential administration.

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RickJWagner
It's a good place to be when workers can pick and choose which jobs to pick
up.

It's not always this way. We should be glad we're here now.

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ReptileMan
I wouldn't want to be in their place if a global recession with layoffs comes.
And it is long oberdue by historical standards.

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bunnycorn
They are not slaves, they aren't bound to Microsoft and Microsoft is not bound
to them. Step asside. I don't have any doubt that Microsoft won't have any
problem in filling their positions with better professionals. Heck, if I were
younger and didn't had yet a family, I would apply for a job at Microsoft and
would be ok with moving to the United States, and helping the civilized world
get rid of the barbarians would be an honor.

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vbuwivbiu
as a member of the civilized world, would you kill ("get rid of") a
"barbarian" person with your bare hands ? Indirection doesn't change anything

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tuesdayrain
I can't decide if it's more or less ethical to turn down these type of jobs.
Even if you are anti-war, by declining such a job you open up space for the
next person in line who may not be as talented of a programmer. The weapons
will exist either way, but now they'll have an increased chance of having
severe bugs because all the best programmers chose less morally ambiguous
jobs. Maybe working for a military contractor is how you prevent the world
from accidentally being destroyed. Or that's how you help it intentionally get
destroyed, I don't know.

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SmirkingRevenge
I almost wonder if these movements are driven in part, or at least encouraged
by, foreign state actors within these companies, who have interests in
hampering US military dominance.

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astrowilliam
Not everything is a conspiracy.

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SmirkingRevenge
Of course it isn't. I didn't claim it was.

