use of computer vision research in warfare
2025-12-27 23:00 Note Type: insight Tags: computer-vision, surveillance, warfare, artificial-intelligence, ai, ethics, application, copyright, training
We think that we would only work on prosocial technologies. Honestly even I have thought the same. But it's so difficult to predict what will be prosocial.
10 years ago, the complexities of generative-ai was totally unknown and hence researchers kept working on it without considering its effect on the society.
To quote Thickstun, "Ten years ago, when I started working on this, no one was thinking about ethical questions because nothing worked. I certainly wasn’t imagining the sort of human and ethical challenges that we see today: How do you think about the economic effects on people who make a living creating art? and How do you think about ownership rights and copyright when you're training these models on other people’s work and labor?"
That's so well articulated.
He adds, "A good friend of mine from graduate school worked on computer vision research and around 2018 he made the ethical decision that he just wasn't going to work on it anymore because of all of the applications to smart bombs and warfare and surveillance technology. That’s one position that you can take."
References:
Exploring the Ethics of AI through Narrative https://hai.stanford.edu/news/exploring-the-ethics-of-ai-through-narrative