Rethinking Working with the Military
By: Claudio Ochoa
As entrepreneurs and investors, we all want to believe that what we’re building or investing in is somehow making the world a better place. It’s the reason we left the comfort of a 9 to 5, or the justification for charging fees so high that we can buy a beach house in St. Barths.
If we’re honest, though, chances are that most of what we’re doing is as impactful as trying to sell “Paxos algorithms for consensus protocols” (cue HBO’s Silicon Valley montage).
But, what if you could be a part of building infrastructure in disaster areas, providing security in war torn regions, or even saving lives? Nope – I’m not talking about donating to a nonprofit, I’m talking about working with the U.S. military.
[Input incredulous sigh here.] Trust me, I get it - the military is about as popular in the Silicon Valley Bubble as The Man at Burning Man. That sentiment was exceedingly clear earlier this year when a group of Google employees signed a letter protesting the company’s involvement in a Pentagon program to develop AI that interprets video imagery that could be used to improve the targeting of drone strikes, citing the company’s motto “Don’t Be Evil.”
From someone who has witnessed a drone keep watch over a small rural village - forgotten by everyone but the U.S military - to ensure the Taliban did not return to punish the people for trying to govern themselves, that stereotype is not only uninformed but dangerous.
First, there are two aspects to defense: the sword and the shield. While we may not want to be a part of a new missile system, which one of us doesn’t want to help develop better bullet proof vests, helmets to avoid brain injury, systems to detect IEDs for both soldiers and civilians? At this moment, 165,000 of your fellow Americans are deployed to some part of the world. What could be more important than helping ensure they come back to their families?
Ironically, the AI Google was working on was actually designed to save lives by giving human analysts a higher degree of certainty that a particular car or building was being used for terrorist activities – most frequently against the innocent people of Afghanistan and Syria. Layer on top of that, the humanitarian work the military is asked to do every day throughout the world, often using the same technology and capabilities.
Second, the world is not static. Not unlike your competition, countries and hostile actors are continually working to gain an edge over us. So, ask yourself: if you’re not comfortable with the U.S. having a certain technology, would you feel more comfortable if China had it? Does Russia somehow have a stronger moral compass than the U.S.? Do you want to give an analyst less certainty that a car headed toward a crowded market does or does not have a car bomb?
Third, your government at this moment needs you. In the 1960’s 1/3 of all global R&D was U.S. defense related. That investment led to the development of the modern internet, lithium batteries, GPS, and even Siri (not to mention us winning the Cold War). Today, that number is 3.7%. The military simply cannot keep pace with the commercial sector and relies on companies (and founders and investors) to work with it to accomplish its mission.
Leave no doubt - this blurb is not meant to tackle the real moral and legal issues involved in war – i.e., should we even be targeting anyone with drones. But, in our system of government, it is not the men and women who put on the uniform everyday, even at the highest level, who make that policy decision. If you want to change that policy, vote, donate, and call your congressman.
But, if you recognize that the best defense against real evil in this world is this experiment we call the United States, and by extension its military which is tasked with extending that security around the world, then work to contribute to the mission not detract from it.
