From Pine View Farm

Unguarded Rails 0

When I worked for the railroad, we were governed by the “Rules of Conduct” (I probably still have my copy tucked away somewhere). Of course, there were other rules and policies and procedures, but the Rules of Conduct guided them all.

The railroad can be a dangerous place. In the early days, one way that hiring managers would determine whether an applicant for an on-road job had experience was to count his fingers . . . .

Over that years, the culture changed, and one of the rules that was drummed into everyone’s head was this:

Safety is of the first importance in the discharge of duty.

Via The Japan Times, Gautam Mukunda makes a strong case that that rule seems to be unheard of at the Zuckerborg, or, methinks, among much of Big Tech, as they plunge into AI. A snippet:

One of the most recent examples is a Reuters investigation, which found that Meta allowed its AI chatbots to, among other things, “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.” That reporting was a topic at a Senate hearing in September on the safety risks such bots pose to kids — and underlines just how dangerous it is when AI and toxic company cultures mix.

Meta’s chatbot scandal demonstrates a culture that is willing to sacrifice the safety and well-being of users, even children, if it helps fuel its push into AI.

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