That’s why propaganda is so insidious, it provides an alternate reality for people to inhabit so that they don’t need to believe that they’re on the wrong side. For example, if you are presented with two news stories, each true, with one extolling the benefits of what you do while the other points out the drawbacks, it is very hard to take the latter seriously. We automatically go through some very complex mental gymnastics to prove to ourselves that we are good, that what we are doing is good, and that anyone who doesn’t see that is either misguided or corrupt.

People in the big AI labs can be aware of the environmental harm their products are causing, along with the potential social harms, and even that AI might, at some point in the future, kill off humanity, and still convince themself that their decision to work on it is correct, as long as there is any uncertainty about the problems, and any possible benefits from their work. To be human is to be biased, and no amount of intelligence will inoculate you from it.

Why do so many people continue to work with regimes that they fundamentally disagree with? There are lots of reasons, and people are complex so one person can hold several, even contradictory, beliefs at once. Some possible answers;

-It’s easier to go along with it and think of myself as being insignificant to the whole.

-Everyone else is doing it, so it can’t be as bad as I think, right?

-Its too big for any one person to fight/it’s inevitable, so I may as well get something out of it, that way at least some good comes from it.

-If I just focus on my job and what I’m doing right now, I don’t need to worry about the horrible things going on elsewhere or the potential future consequences of what I’m doing.