Comment by hegelstoleit
2 hours ago
Well we're not debating the morality of it, the question is what he should do, given that he believes that it's immoral.
In your analogy the correct thing to do would be to call the authorities to help. The problem with the analogy is that there isn't a 911 number to call for this scenario. You need to appeal to the people who have the power to do something about the situation. Quitting in a very public way is one way to get someone with that authority to do something about it. I don't really see a better alternative.
By the time authorities get there, if they actually prioritize it (police in many places already have a track record for not being very responsive, unless there're actual signs of a crime), something may have already happened to the child. You don't know because you already left, expecting that someone else will take care of it, when you were already in a position to help ensure that child's safety. No, if you think something might be wrong you stay and monitor the situation best you can, so if something really does begin to actually begin to happen you can be a buffer and/or whistleblow.
At this point the analogy has entirely collapsed, your job is to develop AI. Unless you're advocating for some kind of sabotage or something, I'm not sure what you're really suggesting he do. If he continues to do the work he's directly contributing to the problem and harm that it you see it to be causing. Nothing is going to change if you continue working there business as usual. It's by drawing a line in the sand and refusing to take part in the problem that you're actually doing something about it, not by compromising your morals.