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33% Positive

Analyzed from 532 words in the discussion.

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#war#money#defense#problem#stanford#program#drone#going#thought#directory

Discussion (23 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

gmercabout 1 hour ago
Please, it’s War now, now defense.
Aeolunabout 1 hour ago
Most of the problems seem defense oriented
kittikittiabout 2 hours ago
This is incredibly cringeworthy knowing the ethical and moral issues surrounding artificial intelligence. The problem "Team SwarmShield" is obviously directly related to a problem Israeli defense forces have to deal with. It's a sad state of Stanford if they're hosting this along with allegedly leading what defined guardrails for artificial intelligence.
traversedaabout 2 hours ago
Also problems Ukrainian defense needs to solve, and that the Canadian military is trying to solve. This is everyone's problem. It's also biased towards defense use.
jMylesabout 2 hours ago
Sure, I think anyone can appreciate that.

But this program appears to just treat war like it's some perfectly normal thing, rather than the most undesirable aspect of humanity which we're hoping to finally bring to an end so can we enjoy an age of peace amidst the internet.

This page literally presents war as if it's a profit vector rather than a societal ill - something that antiwar activists have been claiming is the actual impetus for most conflicts in the world, only to be called conspiracy theorists in response.

It's just totally nauseating.

So while, in the abstract, preventing people from being killed by drone swarms is a great idea, it's tainted from the get-go if the solution is just to make more money by having bigger killing machines, rather than preventing people from wanting/needing to drone swarm other people from the outset.

jnwatson27 minutes ago
It is far ethically superior for Stanford grads to stick to their wheelhouse: optimizing engagement so that their users doomscroll longer.
Aeolunabout 1 hour ago
Someone is going to try and kill you with a drone swarm, so no matter how detestable you find it, I think it’s good that there’s people that are thinking of ways to stop that.
graphimeabout 1 hour ago
> But this program appears to just treat war like it's some perfectly normal thing, rather than the most undesirable aspect of humanity which we're hoping to finally bring to an end so can we enjoy an age of peace amidst the internet.

War has existed for all of human history.

Why do you think humans today are special and will eliminate war?

The only acceptable answer is: you want hope.

mhb27 minutes ago
Couldn't resist dragging Israel in, right?
AndrewKemendoabout 1 hour ago
Original H4D comments from 2015 when steve blank started this:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9442981

jMylesabout 2 hours ago
Wow, I thought this was satire for a second. This is a level of shamelessness that I'm really surprised Stanford (or anyone involved) can tolerate being associated with.

> Department of War Directory – This year the students had access to a Department of War Directory – essentially a phonebook of ~5,700 names of “Who buys in the Dept of War?” The directory includes a tutorial on how the DoW buys and the various acquisition and funding processes and programs that exist for startups. It provides details on how to sell to the DoW and where the Program Acquistion Officers (PAEs) fit into that process.

Literally teaching people how to make money selling misery and violence. No mention of how the tech involved can be used to constrain states, stop wars, establish justice, identify war crimes and restore victims, nothing. I thought we were beyond this in 2026.

chadgpt3about 1 hour ago
I believe the quip associated with this is "don't hate the player, hate the game."

War is where the money is. The government of this country has decided that you make money by going to war and you don't make money by not going to war. It's also decided that having money is mandatory. So if you want to succeed you'll go to war.

talon863521 minutes ago
HN continues to slouch towards emotional outrage, even at the expense of the point.
graphimeabout 2 hours ago
> I thought we were beyond this in 2026.

You must be new to tech.

jMylesabout 2 hours ago
> You must be new to tech.

Feel free to peruse my profile and websites to get a sense of my contributions and career trajectory over the past few decades, in software and in bluegrass music, if you for whatever reason seriously think that's germane to the discussion.

AndrewKemendoabout 2 hours ago
Steve Blank has been doing H4D for a decade now
mhb28 minutes ago
You don't think the US military should have the best technology?