Google Employees Are Outraged That The Company Is Working With The Pentagon To Equip Military Drones With AI

Daily Mail: Google is working with the Pentagon to equip military drones with people-tracking AI in secretive 'Project Maven' deal, report claims

* Google is working with the Department of Defense on secretive 'Project Maven'
* Project Maven is tasked with equipping drones with artificial intelligence.
* This would allow unmanned vehicles to detect and identify objects in war zones
* Some Google employees are 'outraged' that the firm is working with the military to develop surveillance technologies, others say it raises ethical questions

The Pentagon may have gained a new, high-profile partner for its sophisticated AI system used to hunt for militants in Iraq and Syria.

Silicon Valley giant Google is working with the Department of Defense to develop advanced artificial intelligence for analyzing drone footage, Gizmodo reported, citing sources close to the situation.

The partnership centers around Project Maven, which is the codename for a system that analyzes aerial surveillance video to look for patterns that can military intelligence analysts.

And it seems some Google employees aren't happy with the move.

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More News On Working With The Pentagon To Equip Military Drones With AI

Google Is Helping the Pentagon Build AI for Drones -- Gizmodo
Google helps Pentagon analyze military drone footage—employees “outraged” -- Ars Technica
The Defense Department is taking on ISIS with Google's open-source AI software -- MIT Technology Review
Pentagon Drone Program Is Using Google AI -- Bloomberg
Google Is Quietly Providing AI Technology for Drone Strike Targeting Project -- The Intercept
Google is using its AI skills to help the Pentagon learn to analyze drone footage -- The Verge

Google Chairman: Artificial Intelligence Can Help Solve World's ‘Hard Problems’

Eric Schmidt, chairman of Alphabet Inc. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Bloomberg: Google Chairman Thinks AI Can Help Solve World's ‘Hard Problems’

* AI could help with population growth, education, Schmidt says
* Field getting crowded with Facebook, Microsoft also investing

Google’s chairman thinks artificial intelligence will let scientists solve some of the world’s "hard problems," like population growth, climate change, human development, and education.

Rapid development in the field of AI means the technology can help scientists understand the links between cause and effect by sifting through vast quantities of information, said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc., the holding company that owns Google.

“AI will play this role to navigate through this and help us.”

It can also aid companies in designing new, personalized systems. In the future, Schmidt would like to see “Eric and Not-Eric,” he said at a conference in New York, where “Eric” is the flesh-and-blood Schmidt and“not-Eric is this digital thing that helps me.”

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Editor: We are far away from what he is envisioning.

Google Rejects The Pentagon's Money For Robot Development

Google Rejects Military Funding In Robotics -- Defense Tech

Google doesn’t want the U.S. military’s money.

Even though the Internet search giant owns two companies that have contracts with the Pentagon, Google is choosing to forego military funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in at least one robotic competition.

Google bought the robotics firm Schaft that had developed a bipedal robot that won DARPA’s Robotics Challenge. The competition asked companies to develop a robot that could perform disaster response tasks to include navigating debris, climbing ladders and turning off a valve.

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My Comment: Too bad .... without this cooperation U.S. troops will probably not be able to benefit from this cooperation.

Alt Text: Google, Apple Unveil Competing Battle Robots

From The Underwire:

Google and Apple announced Friday what many analysts have long predicted: That they will settle the long-standing competition between the two companies with a series of giant robot battles.

The announcement comes as the culmination of a series of parallel developments between the two competitors. Apple recently unveiled its new Apple TV with 99-cent streaming episodes, and Google followed a week later with Google TV, to be deployed this fall.

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Google And NASA Back Vision Of Computers More Clever Than Humans

Image from "Scott Beale / Laughing Squid"

Google And Nasa Back New School For Futurists -- Financial Times

Google and Nasa are throwing their weight behind a new school for futurists in Silicon Valley to prepare scientists for an era when machines become cleverer than people.

The new institution, known as “Singularity University”, is to be headed by Ray Kurzweil, whose predictions about the exponential pace of technological change have made him a controversial figure in technology circles.

Google and Nasa’s backing demonstrates the growing mainstream acceptance of Mr Kurzweil’s views, which include a claim that before the middle of this century artificial intelligence will outstrip human beings, ushering in a new era of civilisation.

To be housed at Nasa’s Ames Research Center, a stone’s-throw from the Googleplex, the Singularity University will offer courses on biotechnology, nano-technology and artificial intelligence.

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