I have literally no clue, hence I won't try to claim I know exactly what's going on there. For all we know, the ethics team at Raytheon could have stopped multiple international nuclear wars already.
replyThey make sure that they are executing contracts in a way that doesn't break the ethics of the jurisdictions they are operating in, they aren't a bunch of naive people pleading for less war.
replyno need for wild speculation, we know that Raytheon is a US Defense contractor and we know that the US targets civilians (including US citizens) abroad for extrajudicial assassinations, starts destabilizing wars without meaningful strategic objectives, supports genocide etc. These things are all extremely well documented, for those paying attention the existence of Raytheon is inherently unethical
reply> paying attention the existence of Raytheon is inherently unethical
replyLets do assume this is true, then again, wouldn't Raytheon be the best place to actually have a ethics department, if anyone?
There is no value in merely having a position with no power, that only exists to make the organization look good. Do you think a vegan is most effective at a slaughterhouse, given that they'd undermine their employers revenue if they were given a modicum of power. Google's AI ethics team was steamrolled by this reality.
replyThe ethics department at Raytheon is focused on questions like "Is it OK to give a bribe to the president if we call it a donation to the ballroom?"
replyThey don't have anything to do about using the products they sell. Neither does Boeing, or Lockheed, or Tesla, or SpaceX.
only if you assume that the ethics department at Raytheon has absolute power over which contracts Raytheon takes and what kinds of products it produces. which is plainly absurd.
replyObviously so. Raytheon is a private company that has its own equities to consider: including things like public image, legal liability, etc. The idea that the USG says jump and Raytheon says how high is absurd. They make choices and even advise the USG at times.
replyI hate to break the news to you, but Raytheon doesn't do the targeting.
replyThe idea to bomb that girls school may have came from Grok, but a card carrying, uniform wearing member of the US military agreed it was the thing to do.
Where was the US military ethics team? Hegseth dismissed them earlier in the year to help with 'lethality'.
(in all reality, the intelligence was old. the database said the building was a military target, so it was sorted and assigned. intelligence is old and leaky and full or errors). a mistake. a tragic mistake, but not a deliberate act.