Open Source is the Future of AI

Source: AIM

Recently, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue took up the fight for open-source AI in his post on LinkedIn saying that open-source AI may lag in some areas due to ethical transparency, but it’s ultimately safer and more sustainable.

Although, this comes at a cost, Delangue said. “Since open-source projects must be transparent, developers are forced to make responsible decisions a priority, which occasionally means sacrificing performance,” and saying “Long-term, open-source = safer, more ethical AI!”

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a different perspective on open-source AI. In a recent interview, he said, “I don’t view it as giving it away, I view it as you guys all making it better for me.”

There are also advocates of the idea that opening out AI models to a larger audience encourages rigorous analysis and responsibility. In a recent talk with Mark Zuckerberg, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said, “Open-sourcing AI models allows for better safety and transparency, as the models can be scrutinised by the broader community”.

Andrew Ng emphasised the global stakes involved in open-source software. “If the attempts to squash open-source software succeed, almost all nations will simply be losers…the United States as well,” Andrew Ng said. His comments highlight how important open-source software is to encouraging creativity and guaranteeing that everyone has access to technology.

In a letter, Mark Zuckerberg argued most of those concerns are unfounded and frames Meta’s strategy as a democratising force in AI development. “Open-source will ensure that more people around the world have access to the benefits and opportunities of AI, that power isn’t concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, and that the technology can be deployed more evenly and safely across society,” he wrote. “It will make the world more prosperous and safer.”

Globally, open source AI fosters diversity by enabling individuals from many backgrounds to utilise and contribute to AI technology. It also makes AI more widely available by preventing the consolidation of power in a small number of powerful corporations.

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