I work for a moderately large tech company, and we’re pushing hard into AI. I routinely post anti-AI articles and most people are like, “yeaaaa, well, back to work 🤷♀️”
Most people just want a steady paycheck, and aren’t really unethical themselves.
I second somebody’s comment about subtle sabotage: https://mastodon.social/@simple_sabotage
The job market also dictates some of this. In my area and with my degree, one of the only industries I could find work in was in support for equipment used in oil and gas production. I had previously worked in the petrochem industry, robotics, and hvac, but when we had our first kid, I opted to take my current job beccause the extra pay allows my wife to stay home with our kids, for me to be closer to home, and to make environmental choices in my personal life.
Ethically, I know the industry I work in is problematic but I also know of 10 other manufacturers who make the same equipment we do, so I sell myself on my contrbution by acknowledging that the operators would just get another brand’s stuff that may not be made as well and could have real repurcussions if something went wrong. It may be delusional but this equipment existed before I was here, and will continue to be made after I’m gone.
Looks like not only the type of sabotage is genuinely smart, but also dropping those papers means the government is now entrenched in distrust and that’s an uncomfortable position to be in.
Not likely. If you become a big shot and wealthy, you are very likely to believe you earned it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error
everyone has a tendency to fall victim to the fundamental attribution error.
Being self aware certainly helps combat it. But the wealthier you are , the less of that you have.
Most people who work for evil companies aren’t doing evil things. A lot of the workers also actively try to do their best to make things better for their colleagues or customers. But they don’t make the decisions.
There’s also lots of “passive sabotage/subterfuge” – think of the scene in the original The Incredibles film where Mr. Incredible tells the claimant what she ACTUALLY has to do to get her insurance claim covered.
I know a guy who works for Apple. Quite high up too. He has dreamed of working there all his life and just because Tim Cook decided to crawl up trumps ass he did not change his views one bit. He gets payed incredibly well, builds products that he is excited about and gets a lot of additional benefits. From his point of view I don’t really see any reason for doubt. He does exactly what he always wanted to be doing. I assume it’ll be like that for many of the guys working there.
the three biggest that i worked for are the epitome of “big tech” and their ceo’s were at trump’s inauguration. (the ceo’s were different for 2 of them when i worked there).
iirc, all of them were unaware due to heavy duty compartmentalization; but to be fair, it was a different time and they all drank the “don’t be evil” kool-aid like i did.
I know one of the higher up people at OpenAI. They absolutely do.
Most people who work for these companies aren’t evil laughing as they break the toes of kittens for their corporate over lords. As many others have said most people go in with the best intentions. Do their best to help companies achieve goals but ensure their products do what customers want. It’s the upper management that comes in and enforces less than desirable programs and enforces eshitification.
It’s a challenging balance and sometimes you just outright lose. People work for these companies for great benefits, connections, skills and the clout that comes from working for huge companies.
I’d argue it’s no different than most roles for most companies. Even look at YouTubers and social media influencers. Some are out there trying to have fun and entertain people with stuff they love. Others are doing anything and everything to make a quick buck even that involves tricking people into storming the capital on a complete lie. Allowing people to risk their livelihoods in the process
I worked for a companies who sole purpose was to allow Fortune 500 companies to pay less then a person who worked at McDonald’s in taxes. You do your best to improve yourself and the company hoping you don’t cross some moral line.
