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Computers are an inherently oppressive technology (2022)

39 点作者 ishandotpage超过 1 年前

10 条评论

haltist超过 1 年前
A few weeks ago I was taking the train but before boarding I noticed two police officers doing their daily patrol and started chatting with them about a crazy lady at the top of the station&#x27;s stairs. They said they couldn&#x27;t do anything because it was not their job to take care of the insane to which I couldn&#x27;t really say anything other than &quot;I guess that sounds about right&quot;. The train I was going to take started to depart but one guy managed to stick his arm out to keep one of the doors open. The conductor saw this and refused to re-open the doors even though the guy seemed to be visibly distraught and maybe even in pain. He was trying to help me catch the train but the conductor had other ideas.<p>It&#x27;s not just the machines that are ruthless. The operators also take on attributes of the machines they manage and in the process inflict willful cruelty on others through their control of the machinery. The most obvious example of this is, of course, war and the technology associated with its execution. So this essay is right, machines&#x2F;algorithms are ruthless but it is the people that use them to inflict pain and suffering on others that makes the whole thing into a grand tragedy.
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xyzzy123超过 1 年前
I don&#x27;t feel this kind of &quot;ruthlessness&quot; is particularly inherent to computers.<p>It seems to me an inherent property of the non-human universe, i.e &quot;everything but us&quot; - gravity is extremely unforgiving if you happen to step off the wrong thing, a sharp rock can slice you open with a moment&#x27;s inattention. If you find yourself in the wrong environment you will die of thirst or hunger or asphyxiate. Nature is not &quot;kind&quot;. Eventually even our bodies turn on us.<p>Human kindness and judgement have a very limited sphere of influence, it just (rightly) feels huge because it&#x27;s at the center of human life.
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lordkrandel超过 1 年前
This article speaks of ruthlessness of the machine for 99% of the time, and then with absolutely no logical reasoning, says at the end that ruthlessnes is inherently oppressive. Because it has the power to be it. In reality, it&#x27;s the opposite: it&#x27;s human flawed moral compass that makes a machine a weapon. Until we understand and address this, we will find no peace.
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ssss11超过 1 年前
It’s just a tool. Like any other, it works for its master. A hammer can be used for good or bad. A knife, a brick, a gun and so on.<p>The problem is humans. We need people who refuse to govern using oppression. Corporate leaders who refuse to prioritise profit over human rights. And developers who have a moral compass of what should and should not be built.<p>But why would this technology be any different to prior new technologies…
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lasereyes136超过 1 年前
Machines have no intent so they can&#x27;t be malevolent or virtuous. The oppressive nature of all current machines is due to it&#x27;s design. A design that was created by human beings. Machines and computers make great servants but horrible masters so if you are in a position to deny a reasonable request because &quot;the computer says no&quot; than a human being is at fault. Blaming a machine is misplaced blame.
mynameisnoone超过 1 年前
Runaway sophomoric anthropomorphism, paranoia, and reductionism. It would be clearer to identify the legal, moral, and ethical responsibilities of those who are responsible than to blame technology. The technology is amoral, but its operator are not. Abdication of ascribing blame by diffusion of responsibility is the greater &quot;evil&quot;.
Log_out_超过 1 年前
No. Machines are neutral amplifying human nature and activities.<p>Humanity once Ressource starved becomes inherently oppressive as art and experiments compete with human mouths for survival. computers just amplify that retardation once it occurs.
thefz超过 1 年前
VCs and startups trying so hard to squeeze money out of gullible buyers is different from the broad realization that machines being inherently oppressive.
necovek超过 1 年前
While the article acknowledges that another way to look at computers&#x2F;machines is to call them &quot;incorruptible&quot;, it sticks to &quot;ruthless&quot; and &quot;oppression&quot; throughout.<p>Instead, I&#x27;d use a different, neutral term like someone used for nature here: they are indifferent to our emotions.<p>But that&#x27;s about right: so are shovels, or meteorites, waterfalls, or a rock falling off a cliff. The main difference is that most of those inert objects act in accordance with natural forces, whereas machines have some unnatural movement (like sideways with train doors).<p>The other difference is that we have introduced many more of such inert objects &quot;acting&quot; into our environment, but we have been doing that long before we could build sophisticated machines and computers (ceilings did fall, statues and bridges collapsed, animals killed and hurt their stewards...).<p>As such, I would vehemently disagree: prescribing any moral direction to objects can only confuse and introduce FUD (has been done throughout history). With machines, we actually have an ability to choose the behaviour (adding sensors to train doors is pretty simple).<p>The fact that we don&#x27;t is purely our choice, the same way we teach our kids by letting them fall, get a bad grade or experience anything negative — not because we don&#x27;t love them. Do you feel like delaying a train of 1000 people because you are slightly late is ok? Would you go and thank everyone or apologize to anyone affected on the train — if you were not ruthless, you would, right?<p>I don&#x27;t really believe the above, I am simply showing how easy it is to turn this on its head.
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ai_focused超过 1 年前
People with power and influence are operators of oppression. For eg. logistics. The work of delivery guys gamified and optimized for the minimizing the cost. Its people who are creating these systems and not the computer. Computer can help create cars, vaccines etc. as well.