Artificial Intelligence is continually blurring the lines of truth, so it’s not surprising that it could be thought of in the lines of warfare. Before now, Google used to have a clear rule saying it wouldn’t use the technology for evil. In a less dramatic sense, for weaponry or surveillance. It all mattered personally for many people because the global company holds influence over how people are connected and how technology is used in everyday life.
That rule is now gone. Instead of saying they won’t do it, the company now says it will make AI tools “responsibly”, with human oversight and respect for international laws. This new wording is vague and leaves room for them to work on military and surveillance projects if they believe they are ethical.
Ethics evolve when there’s a race to lead in AI
Google is singing a different tune from their previous commitments regarding AI development. The company has now revealed an updated version of their AI principles, and disclosed how they’re currently collaborating with many partners in various fields to broaden its possibilities.
They believe in freedom, equality, and respect for human rights in guiding AI development. They also suggest that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should collaborate with them to make sure AI is not abused and to protect people.
There’s a global competition taking place for AI leadership within an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. We believe democracies should lead in AI development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights. And we believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.
Back in 2018, Google promised to avoid military AI. Their old policy was pretty explicit on its applications in four areas: weapons, surveillance, technologies that could cause overall harm, and uses violating international law and human rights. This meant that we were less likely to see smart missile guidance systems, mass surveillance tools, or predictive policing software with the popular colored G logo on them.
But they have worked on notable military contracts between that period and now, including Project Maven and Project Nimbus. Project Maven is a US military program that started in 2017 with the goal of using intelligence to process and analyze data from satellite photos and sensors to identify potential military targets.
Google has a long history with military projects
At first, Google helped with Project Maven in 2018. But protests from employees saw an end to all their efforts. At the time, Palantir, Microsoft, and other companies continued to be involved. The project is still running, and in 2022, it was taken over by a government agency called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
On the other hand, Project Nimbus is a cloud computing project involving the Israeli government and military. It was launched in 2021 with Google and Amazon providing the technology.
The aim was to set up cloud infrastructure within Israel’s borders to keep data within the country under strict security protocols. While the details of the project are not fully disclosed, it’s possible that they were using AI tools in facial recognition, image categorization, and tracking.
The project faced a lot of backlash because the Israeli government made sure that involved companies couldn’t stop providing their services to them, even if people called for a boycott of the project. They included a clause in the contract that prevented the companies from refusing to work. Again, Google employees resigned in protest, accusing the company of silencing critics of the project.
