Post B43quFwkdT5CMxQbz6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #B436ORStg9kQw2M8LQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
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@gotofritz The impulse to use an LLM, and other shortcuts to make such decisions is indicative of a lack of serious interest in the details of the situation. A level of study and interest that ought to be present for decisions that kill so many people. I think that's why it matters.
(DIR) Post #B436ORhmmnepgDK1YG by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@futurebird @gotofritz also if a decision to make a strike, and a decision about coordinates of that strike, is made solely on the basis of the information provided by intern or by some python script cobbled together without very stringent quality control, then heads of everybody involved in making a decision to rely on such intern or python script for such purposes should roll. I don't see why it should be different with LLM.(I'm not saying that wars are good or that conducting strikes on the basis of more reliable information is good. But this specifically is such an obvious violation of all possible norms of conducting wars, it's only possible if those conducting the war don't give even a slightest shit about civilians.)
(DIR) Post #B436ORx1s7qoRUSCJM by futurebird@sauropods.win
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@gotofritz But the problem with "serious study" of international politics is that when you learn more about a people, a culture you start to like them. You start to *become* like them. Any tool that enables killing without such engagement is putting us on a fast track to atrocity.Punch cards. Such a wonderful technology. (I collect punch cards, have always been fascinated by them). I can also never forget how they provided emotional distance for one of the greatest genocides.
(DIR) Post #B436OSQS6jO1ukDhAm by futurebird@sauropods.win
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@gotofritz Maybe if more people had to look at the city maps, if they had to read the local papers, and study the site there would have been more objections. Maybe you see a "street view" photo of the cross guard escorting the girls to class. Maybe you notice a paper sign in the window of a shop saying a new toy is in stock. The target isn't just coordinates, it's a place where people live. People who don't care about international politics any more than the kids playing on your own block.
(DIR) Post #B43quECH8mJQwWfyu8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
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RE: https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes/116192434654015384I have been watching this story simmer for several days. I've been wary of it. It fits too neatly into the criticisms and warnings many of us have been raising. But it's starting to look like, yes, they are using an LLM to make critical decisions.At the same time I have heard parts of speeches from the US Secretary of War.* I have been dismayed by his shallow thinking. It doesn't help that his speeches also sound like they are also composed by an LLM.*formerly DefenseRT: https://infosec.exchange/users/hacks4pancakes/statuses/116192434654015384
(DIR) Post #B43quFBbSlMw0jMxUm by futurebird@sauropods.win
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His speeches sound LLM generated because they are filled with so many cliches and empty sentences. And because they sound nothing like they way he speaks extemporaneousnessly. Of course this could just be a bad speech writer. Or it could be that when your ideas are bad no words can fix it. The Department of War will not even say if they missed or not. Did they *want* to hit that school? If not the school then what?
(DIR) Post #B43quFXw7jEX7zonJ2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
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Right wing war hawk commentators are saying that hitting a civilian target, a school filled with little girls is "good strategy, actually" we, the soft-handed peace-nicks are simply not smart enough to understand the strategic power of this action. But, if the Department of war won't say it remains unclear if this atrocity is based on incompetence or dim-witted malice.update: We can infer that they "missed"https://shakedown.social/@AAronL1968/116193541496761440
(DIR) Post #B43quFwkdT5CMxQbz6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
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The events feel unreal but the deaths are very real. This is not a video game. This is not a text adventure.
(DIR) Post #B43quGE7asyfEpYU3k by futurebird@sauropods.win
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My disgust for war, for the military, is not the result of being sheltered.I hate your wars because I know exactly what they are and how when violence occurs it reverberates for generations. Someone has lost a daughter and with her many of their reasons for living. What grim task will they devote themselves to?What would you do, Pete, if they killed your family? Do you think you are the only person who loves their children?I think you must.
(DIR) Post #B43quGuf2j0NMlSSMi by RogerBW@discordian.social
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@futurebird If "we" can only win by being as terrible as "them", why should I feel any moral imperative that "we" should win?
(DIR) Post #B43quHLFRsGwhDtgo4 by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
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@RogerBW @futurebird related: people cheering on the iranian military after they hit AWS data centers:https://bsky.app/profile/richard.wickedproblems.earth/post/3mgf7hc3vcs2s/quoteslike, they're not only noticing that it is valid & legal to target enemy data centers during wartime; there's also tons of people writing words to the effect of "dear iran, please hit more of our data centers."
(DIR) Post #B43quHhE89qxnOBF44 by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
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@RogerBW @futurebird i used to think i was anti-war, but really, i was always just anti-aggressor.When you live in the aggressor country, being anti-aggressor usually translates to political demands to stop fighting. This was true for the u.s.-initiated war in Vietnam; the u.s.-initiated war in Iraq; the 2nd u.s.-initiated war in Iraq; etc.But this time, i don't just want the fighting to stop; i also want the u.s. military to lose, because a "victory" would mean that evil has won.
(DIR) Post #B43quI8WUfghA2x2bw by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
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@RogerBW @futurebird (to be clear, that's also what victory meant/would-have-meant for the previous mentioned wars; it's just that now i'm more aware of it.)
(DIR) Post #B449S1zioWLw7P4Yam by sabik@rants.au
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@IngaLovinde @futurebird @gotofritz "[they] don't give even a slightest shit" is an unfortunately plausible hypothesis#uspol