LOL. 😀

Good thread.

https://thebulletin.org/2022/03/russia-may-have-used-a-killer-robot-in-ukraine-now-what/

There’s no difference between a land mine (kills or maims whoever steps on it) and a lethal autonomous drone (kills whoever it decides is a military target). Same ethical issues. More importantly, not any NEW ethical issues.

«Current artificial intelligence is particularly brittle; it can be easily fooled or make mistakes. For example, a single pixel can convince an artificial intelligence that a stealth bomber is a dog. A complex, dynamic battlefield filled with smoke and debris makes correct target identification even harder, posing risk to both civilians and friendly soldiers. Even if no one is harmed, errors may simply prevent the system from achieving the military objective.»

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-west-vs-rest-of-the-world-russia-ukraine-dictators-south-america-asia-africa-11647894483?mod=djemalertNEWS

Most WSJ opinion pieces are garbage, but this one, not so much. This is centuries of colonizing (etc.) behavior on the part of the West coming home to roost. The only non-Western nation on our side is Japan (which I welcome). At some point, I hope folks realize that democracy and (regulated) capitalism are the best approach, but we haven’t really set a good example, all told.

(Maybe we should stop supporting murderous dictators like some of the folks we support in the middle east. Maybe we should do more than the utmost minimum to satisfy the people of a country before we abscond with their molybdenum. It’s a bit late, now, though. Can we make amends? Can we offer a significantly better deal than China?)

https://twitter.com/hypatiadotca/status/1506113070892195845?s=20&t=UesSI406Ib5WVkIMkHuHOw

Past the initial level of “Ha! *I* know what this means!”… Actually, I have no idea what this means, apart from “don’t trust all those web ‘remember your password’ services like LastPass.” But I guess even that doesn’t help.

(Although I still don’t trust ’em.)

I love the Norman Rockwell version of this.

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1505972610177421316?s=20&t=xYm9JHhD3AefnPSXCH5d5w

We need a new piece of iconography for Belarusian railway workers. Some guy in overalls screwing up a switch? Yanking out the wires from a control box?

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/us/politics/russia-ukraine-james-baker.html

It’s never too late, actually. We just can’t repeat what Turkey did/is doing:

«As it happens, one of those who suggested a different approach was Mr. Baker. In 1993, as NATO was contemplating admitting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, he proposed in an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times that the alliance consider another possible member: Russia itself.»

https://twitter.com/DAlperovitch/status/1504914226497871883?s=20&t=F4xY40xlQH8Bi2gzQ6rsYQ

Brace for war of attrition/starvation in Ukraine.