for a good counterbalance to those just finding out the nyt is a state dept mouthpiece at best, read about real journalists and why there seem to be so few of them, read Pegasus by laurent richard. Spoiler alert, real journalists who expose powerful peoples' wrongdoings simply get killed.
One of the journalists was Jason Koebler who later cofounded 404media. That is imho pretty legit outlet which uncovered many pretty damning stories about tech.
404media is good stuff, one of the few news outlets I pay for. I didn't dig too deep on the above comment because I have a deep respect for journalists despite admittedly many of them servicing things I dislike by choice or coercion or for remuneration or fame, etc. Reading about journalists in more authoritarian countries was seriously depressing
"how easy it is, for those of us who play no part in public affairs, to sneer at the compromises required of those who do" - robert harris
Not making any value judgements, but I can see how one might value their interpretability research higher than what the ceo says in a time where the corrupt, criminal executive branch is muscling in to everything from what's written on currency, to journalistic sources. I generally blame fascists before i blame those unable or unwilling to resist them. though obviously, ideally, we'd all lock arms and, together through friendship, crush authoritarians and fascists.
They are a private company. They have zero obligation to sell anything to any part of the government or military. The only reason they are involved in "public affairs" is because they want to profit from the government. Moreover, long before this DoW controversy, they had plenty of nationalist and anti-China rhetoric in their press releases, more so than the other AI firms.
The other explanation besides profit is that they're true believers that democratic militaries should be stronger than the military of dictators around the world, including AI capabilities.
if it helps it's from his novel imperium about cicero. the rest of the quote is great. "...Cicero had stuck to his principles and rejected joining pompey, crassus, and Caesar in their triumvirate to supplant the state. He denounced their criminality in public...in response, he suffered banishment, poverty, and heartbreak. "What good am i to my family or my principles, exiled here?" something like that. from memory. great little trilogy of books btw. got the rec off here actually
It's not sneering. Anthropic constantly puts itself out as some sort of moral arbiter when they are no different from any other business, as your quote suggests.
In retrospect, was there a better place to learn about the cruelty of the world than runescape? Must've got scammed thrice before I lost the youthful light in my eye
What's even crazier is the technological pursuit of EUV and what a moonshot it was. Chip wars by chris miller chronicles it and it is absolutely crazier than sci fi.
is there anyway you'd be willing to field a few questions from a soon to be cs grad interested deeply in this specific career path after realizing they'd been doing it in a way for free already. good experience, but unconventional experience who aspires to a position similar to yours?
Everyone I know who has done it, started out as a developer, moved up to a tech lead position and while doing so learned soft skills and presentations and gut real world experience with designing systems and then moved into consulting.
It’s from my seeing the lay of the land in 2026 almost impossible to get a full time job in a consulting company starting out of a college with just an undergrad doing something technical - unless you are in one of the cheaper countries to hire from.
Most besides the WITCH companies use the business models of hire people in the US for the customer facing roles and hire people in cheaper countries for the Lower level roles.
Luckily I am US based, but unfortunately looks like there's no way out of the developer grind for a few years.
I have presentation skills and plenty of soft skills but no experience building complex b2b systems. I've, for many a year, done a very basic version of my understanding of the role for non profits, business and individuals. designed technical solutions of all sorts but mostly just met their needs with existing software along with education.
I was hoping I could enter straight into customer facing roles but I suppose I was simply really holding out hope I could avoid what I've heard called, so lovingly, "the code mines". Any further suggestions would be greatly welcome.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond and offer this wisdom.
> The US taxpayer has no moral obligation to send welfare "around the world".
I mean, by way of the atrocities we've committed around the world, we kinda do.
Even if we buy your thesis, foregoing morals, geopolitics, and history, it's a useful soft power strategy...
I'm not saying fund USAID before healthcare for all in america. I'm saying of all the insane things our government wastes money on, USAID was far down on the list of most egregious.
>I mean, by way of the atrocities we've committed around the world, we kinda do.
I've committed no atrocities. Going to guess that you've committed no atrocities. What atrocities did occur, most of those who committed those are dead, the rest are senile in nursing homes. I have no guilt and certainly feel no guilt for those events.
>it's a useful soft power strategy.
Sure, if you're some sort of tyrant. I thought the left was against colonialism... but you guys really just one a more clever, subtle colonialism eh? Figures.
>I'm saying of all the insane things our government wastes money on, USAID was far down on the list of most egregious.
What you're saying is that no cuts can or should be made, unless they are your favorite cuts first. And maybe after you get those, no others need be made at all.
>Sure, if you're some sort of tyrant. I thought the left was against colonialism... but you guys really just one a more clever, subtle colonialism eh? Figures
Drastic misrepresentation. I made no value judgements. I simply offered reasons why the above commenter may be wrong. from different points of view. You misunderstand or are naive to the spectrum of how parasitic to symbiotic those soft power relationships can be
> What you're saying is that no cuts can or should be made, unless they are your favorite cuts first. And maybe after you get those, no others need be made at all.
Nope, just saying there's pretty clear science behind where money could be better spent besides billions in forever wars. Maybe start there? 9$ trillion on pointless wars in the middle east comes to mind? google a map of countries we've overthrown the democratic leader of if you want more examples. all the shahs men is useful too. i could go on.
> I've committed no atrocities. Going to guess that you've committed no atrocities. What atrocities did occur, most of those who committed those are dead, the rest are senile in nursing homes. I have no guilt and certainly feel no guilt for those events
It's not about that.
someone simply had to pay that debt. sorry to tell you those bills they wracked up to accumulate wealth are coming due for the rest of us right or not.
also remember it's pretty much the only addiction you are compelled to partake in even when "cured". No other addiction are you biologically compelled to do it (that i can think of) but for those with addiction issues and food as one of them it's often the hardest to shake because shaking addiction is easiest done simply by never touching it. Don't have that option with food. Even healthy food can be eaten in excess.
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