Proton’s AI manifesto for software engineering | Proton
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How will Proton navigate the AI transition? Read the internal memo by Proton CTO Bart Butler.

In an effort to stem the bleeding from the backlash about their AI usage and their CEO’s meltdown, they decide to do the exact opposite and go all in.

…I’m tired, boss.

  • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    0·
    3 days ago

    Isn’t… that a reasonable use of the tool? Freeing up people’s time from drone work to do more meaningful stuff?

    • TurbidityVonAdvectionFog@pawb.socialEnglish
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      2 days ago

      Handwritten automation is possible with code, all they’d have to do is actually do the work to identify the repetitive tasks and write the code for future edit + reuse. They just want an excuse to get high on AI, to throw away their expertise. To risk the privacy of others to that end.

      That’s why I switched to Posteo from Tuta, as they are desperate to be like every corpo scum and use AI. I also left a detailed message as to why I left, it was scathing.

      • Kangae_Hishiryo@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
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        2 days ago

        Yeah, they sold themselves to the Big Tech interests and they don’t respect their users (nor their employees) anymore, if they did so in the past to start with. Just as Linus and its 90 billion from IBM (which received them from AI companies and it’s part of the AI bubble’s hype too)

        • TurbidityVonAdvectionFog@pawb.socialEnglish
          0·
          2 days ago

          I noticed Linus’s heel maneuver because…Of fucking course it is always the old men who sell out future generations for snake oil and bad corporate schemes. At least we have microkernels to microdose on to isolate the damage that can by a deranged group of open source idiots that soul their soul to corpo beasts.

    • Omnipitaph@reddthat.com
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      3 days ago

      Yes, but also that’s what regular programs are for. If it is a repetitive task that does not require any creative input, a program can achieve it, and a programmer can be paid for it. There are few tasks that can’t be automated using logic parameters.

      I do agree with you that that is what AI should be used for, but I’d only support it if the AI was run locally. Commercial AI should not be centralized.

      • Omnipitaph@reddthat.com
        0·
        3 days ago

        Absolutes and sweeping statements are rarely true. I can’t think of a fault for using local AI for scientific pursuits, nor using local AI for recreational pursuits.

        • Kangae_Hishiryo@scribe.disroot.org
          0·
          2 days ago

          This isn’t any of them: this is a production context with real data of real users and the privacy and security of these at stake. This is one of those rare cases where they’re true, in fact.

          But even in scientific or recreational contexts, it’s still bad by itself. First of all, it deskills you. Second of all, it still sums to the enviromental and energetic effects of AI. Third of all, “AI” is NOT reliable at all, as it’s inherently chaotic, stochastic and indeterminist. Fourth of all, “AI” is tainted and blood-stained chain of origin, encompassing the datasets used for training and the methods by which they are acquired, the materials and processes employed to manufacture and maintain the hardware and software involved, as well as the procedures used to categorize and clean the training data (that’s underpaid exploitative labor done by people of the Global South). Sixth of all, it perpetuates and amplifies biases by presenting itself as an objective, impartial, and detached entity to be trusted blindly—a dynamic that makes fake news more destructive than ever. Seventh, it is built upon the theft of works by millions of artists (of all kinds—not just painters and illustrators), scientists, philosophers, thinkers, and countless others, all without their consent, proper attribution, or fair compensation, thereby amplifying the phenomenon of enclosure. Eighth, it facilitates license laundering. Ninth, it has inextricable ties to both fascism and authoritarian tankie movements, as well as to war, numerous massacres, unjust imprisonments, and the intelligence and psychological or information warfare operations of governments worldwide.

          Elaboration and sources are here.

          Edit: Forgot to add that the “AI” that everyone talks about is not the actual AI that scientists use. They don’t use ChatGPT, StableDiffusion or anything like that to do research. They use purpose-specific machine learning models, created by them for their particular context and use case.