How Open Source Can AI Truly Be?

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In this edition, we take a look at the debate between open source and closed source AI models.

Artificial intelligence (AI) truly got a boost when OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Since then, we’ve seen everything from AI chatbots to startups built around the hardware and software aspects of AI being launched.

To be fair, image and pattern recognition is not new. Meta’s chief AI scientist and one of the “godfathers of AI,” Yann LeCun, demonstrated this back in 1993. 

Of course, modern-day AI is infinitely more powerful, faster, and better at this and more.

From text to images, audio and video, and even memes, AI is everywhere. Sometimes its presence is obvious and at other times, it’s too subtle to even be spotted, which is when things get murky. 

That is why it is more important than ever to understand exactly how AI works — and why there’s so much discussion on open source versus closed source AI models.

In this newsletter, we delve into this debate.

Open Source Versus Closed Source: A Decades-Old Religious Debate

The debate between open source and closed source software has deep roots dating back several decades, embodying a clash of ideologies akin to a religious debate.

At its core, this discourse revolves around the fundamental question of control and transparency in software development.

Open source proponents advocate for transparency and collaboration, arguing that making source code accessible promotes innovation and security.

On the other side, advocates of closed source software emphasize proprietary control over intellectual property, arguing that this model is essential for protecting investments and maintaining quality standards.

One of the classic examples of this is the never-ending debate between Linux evangelists and Windows users. While Linux has set the smartphone world on fire thanks to Google’s Android – it has Linux at its heart – it hasn’t kicked off in the desktop world yet.

On the other hand, Windows remains the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with nearly 7 out of 10 users running Microsoft’s OS. 

What The Leaders Are Saying

Just as well, the AI world is also divided by the open source versus closed source debate.

While Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his chief AI scientist, LeCun, are firmly in favor of open source AI, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks it should be subject to certain limitations.

“If you make AI more open, then that addresses a large class of issues that might come about from unequal access to opportunity and value,” said Zuckerberg. Meta’s Llama AI models are open source.

LeCun went a step further – he thinks open source AI models will one day overtake closed source rivals like ChatGPT.

xAI founder Elon Musk, too, favors open source AI models. He has released the sources of the Grok AI chatbot and has repeatedly mocked Altman for not releasing sources of ChatGPT. After suing OpenAI, he said he’d drop the lawsuit if Altman would change the name of the company to “ClosedAI.”

On the other hand, Altman wants “nuance.”

“Open source or not, yeah, I think we should open source some stuff and not other stuff. It does become this religious battle line where nuance is hard to have, but I think nuance is the right answer,” he said on a recent episode of the Lex Fridman podcast.

Open Source AI: How Much Does It Matter?

When it comes to technology as critical and powerful as AI, open sourcing the models and weights allow democratization of the technology as well as help in the promotion of transparency and trust. Open source models allow anyone to check how the algorithm works, and what goes on behind the scenes while these models generate text and media.

OpenAI is currently one of the largest hold out, but it remains to be seen if the company changes tack going forward.

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