Tech companies have been making discoveries that are very critical in the modern world. The public is becoming over-excited with the rate at which tech firms are making life more comfortable, faster and fancier. Collectively, tech has moved the world in an innovative direction where it can be incorporated in our everyday life activities. Companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, just to mention but a few, are amongst the tech giants of today in Silicon Valley.
As we continue to delight in the wit of our tech companies, it would be imperative to consider the other side of the coin. There are questions we need to ask ourselves regarding the advances that are being made by our tech corporations. Could it cause harm or interrupt with our privacy or expose us to more threats? There are moral implications that these innovations have on the public.
Recently, Google was contracted by the Pentagon on a project that has received criticism from the public. The Pentagon has established Project Maven, where artificial intelligence will be installed in military drones. It equips drones with the ability to differentiate between objects collected during surveillance footage. Of course in its mind, it is a direction towards advanced security, but there is evil in it as well in the long run.
Google could have foreseen the dangers associated with the inventions of their new project. The completion of this project is the conception of copiously autonomous munitions. Many people are opposing this development of killer robots. Those against these project include scholars, AI developers as well as Google’s workforce. The company is operating entirely against its motto even though it promises not to renew the project agreement when it expires.
The company pronounced a set of moral guidelines last week focused at navigating its AI development. Google’s statement comprised of a clause saying that it wouldn’t be involved in the development of tech that would be used to inflict harm to people. Quite reassuring. On the other hand, its contract with the Pentagon is contrary to its ethical guidelines. Like Google, tech in many companies is going to the extent of crossing the lines of public privacy and safety. When such questions arise on what to do or comprehensively understand, the need for philosophers arises.
It is hard to tell how possible it is for the Project Maven to achieve its objective of not causing injury to humans. The drone collects data footage that is then transferred to the operator in the station. The operator then decides to launch a strike or not. Theoretically, the tech can be used to decrease civilian fatalities launched by drones. Philosophers would help in making a set of ethical guidelines incorporating an approach towards tech use without causing harm.
