tldr: many great scientific advancement were created by well-intentioned researchers who were subsequently shocked to find their work applied to military, often to the great detriment of mankind.

The unwritten implication is that this applies to AI, as well. I find it hard to disagree. I don't know what to do about it.

The HN crowd is elated that we can finally finish our side projects, while the ruling class is already using AI to subvert democracy, spread misinformation, and develop weapons. "If we don't build these weapons, someone else will." If we can learn nothing else from history, we should learn that you can't turn back the clock.

No, this does not apply to AI because they're not well intentioned and very open about it.

I think both things can simultaneously be true. There is a certain inevitability to technological progress. Once you reach a critical mass of collective knowledge, the resulting "thing" will get developed. If not by you, then by someone else.

But also, inevitability is not an argument for complicity. If you personally decide to work on bioweapons, I don't think you can shrug and say "eh, it was going to happen either way". As tech workers, we've really mastered the art of coming up with justifications for what essentially just boils down to "all my friends have gotten rich and now it's my turn".

I've met hundreds of sharp engineers from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc. None of them could look me straight in the eye and say "yeah, you know, what we're doing with ad tech is actually good". They just always had an explanation along the lines of "it's not that bad, and besides, if we don't do it, someone else will, and we're the good guys here".

That’s a weird tldr and not my takeaway. More like “scientists convinced their new ultra destructive weapon is sure to bring about peace this time around”. Spoiler: it does not. Arguably maybe nuclear weapons but even then I’d say the use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict hasn’t really been tested yet and people are generally hesitant to do so, preferring instead illegal chemical and biological warfare.

Reminds me a quote from Gibson's Spook Country: "That's something that tends to happen with new technologies generally: the most interesting applications turn up on the battlefield, or in a gallery."

> were created by well-intentioned researchers who were subsequently shocked to find their work applied to military

oh please.

Most scientific development especially root-node stuff has been funded by the military for centuries. You can't take funds from DARPA and then be shocked to see the air force using it.

Humans would have never gone to space [as quick and as at much scale as they did] if they didn't want spy satellites and ICBMs.

Do see my other comment for more examples.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45364917

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45365211 [Context: the creator of waymo was the winner of that challenge]

And need I mention the internet itself...

As the first comment I linked mentions, even many medicines were developed only cos soldiers were dying in theater, not because normal people were dying at home. So it's not just limited to tech.

  > The HN crowd is elated that we can finally finish our side projects, while the ruling class is

If you wanted the core of all of this... Check this book "Irrational Man" by William Barrett.