Can Google do no wrong? Good intentions aren't enough.

Lauren Weinstein writes about the risks of Google:

Google currently represents virtually a textbook example of the complex interplay between innovative, socially positive inventions and developments on one hand, and oppressively dangerous technological arrogance on the other.  Or as the fictional David St. Hubbins of the film "This is Spinal Tap" put it more simply around twenty years ago: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

[...]

[A] very real mix of extremely potent positive and negative impacts on society, and a range of complex risks that need to be fully understood, are increasingly coming into focus relating to Google's operations.

Such powerful forces can sometimes be managed successfully to truly exclude evil, but only when those in charge recognize that their own intellects and even good will are insufficient to prevent the "great machines" from being used in ways that can seriously damage individuals and society.  It's all too easy not only to be blinded by science, but also to create mechanisms that can be horrendously abused by entities who don't necessarily share the benevolent philosophies of their creators.

Link: The Risks Digest Volume 24: Issue 9 -- Whither Goes Google?