I think that as AI tools become more useful, working in an air gapped network is going to require a larger compromise in productivity. Maybe AI labs are the exception here as they can deploy their own products in the air gapped network, but that depends on how much of the productivity gains they can replicate using their own products. i.e. an Anthropic employee might not be able to use Cursor unless Anthropic signs a deal with Cursor to deploy it inside the network. Now do this with 10 more products, this requires infrastructure and compute that might be just too much of a hassle for the company.
I hope we can make the compromise not too painful. Especially if we start early and address all the problems that will come up before we’re in the critical period where we can’t afford to mess up anymore.
Imagine a lab starts working in an air gapped network, and one of the 1000 problems that comes up is working-from-home.
If that problem comes up now (early), then we can say “okay, working from home is allowed”, and we’ll add that problem to the queue of things that we’ll prioritize and solve. We can also experiment with it: Maybe we can open another secure office closer to the employee’s house, would they like that? If so, we could discuss fancy ways to secure the communication between the offices. If not, we can try something else.
If that problem comes up when security is critical (if we wait), then the solution will be “no more working from home, period”. The security staff will be too overloaded with other problems to solve, not available to experiment with having another office nor to sign a deal with Cursor.
I think that as AI tools become more useful, working in an air gapped network is going to require a larger compromise in productivity. Maybe AI labs are the exception here as they can deploy their own products in the air gapped network, but that depends on how much of the productivity gains they can replicate using their own products. i.e. an Anthropic employee might not be able to use Cursor unless Anthropic signs a deal with Cursor to deploy it inside the network. Now do this with 10 more products, this requires infrastructure and compute that might be just too much of a hassle for the company.
Yeah it will compromise productivity.
I hope we can make the compromise not too painful. Especially if we start early and address all the problems that will come up before we’re in the critical period where we can’t afford to mess up anymore.
I also think it’s worth it
More on starting early:
Imagine a lab starts working in an air gapped network, and one of the 1000 problems that comes up is working-from-home.
If that problem comes up now (early), then we can say “okay, working from home is allowed”, and we’ll add that problem to the queue of things that we’ll prioritize and solve. We can also experiment with it: Maybe we can open another secure office closer to the employee’s house, would they like that? If so, we could discuss fancy ways to secure the communication between the offices. If not, we can try something else.
If that problem comes up when security is critical (if we wait), then the solution will be “no more working from home, period”. The security staff will be too overloaded with other problems to solve, not available to experiment with having another office nor to sign a deal with Cursor.