@lexpedite @ltmccarty — Two ways this could play out:
1. OpenAI feels threatened by the many free + open-source competitors (e.g., Eleuther, Dolly-2), and wonders whether the time/expense of generating a Foundational Model is worth it — when they're competing with "free."
2. OpenAI — with Microsoft money — takes a run at improving the existing GPT-4 model incrementally. Like they did with the davinci releases of GPT3, GPT3.5, etc.
Seems like they're choosing Option 2. Long Microsoft runway
Here is another article on those comments by Sam Altman:
https://www-wired-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.wired.com/story/openai-ceo-sam-altman-the-age-of-giant-ai-models-is-already-over/amp
@ltmccarty @lexpedite Yes, that's really helpful. Thanks, Thorne.
I wonder if this comes from the lack of high quality data sources. There are only so many human-created words. Reddit will only get you so far.
Last bastion of high quality legal data: Law? Judicial, statutory, and regulatory text seems like an evergreen source.
On guessing and nondisclosure: Hard to be transparent when (1) for profit and (2) open source competitors are nipping at your heels.
Google can afford to be open. OpenAI (an oxymoron) apparently thinks that it can't.
Another consideration: Malfeasance and misuse of the model. Regulatory concerns abound.
Are you an AI researcher at an academic institution? Are you anxious you are not coping with the current pace of AI advancements? Do you feel you have no (or very limited) access to the computational and human resources required for an AI research breakthrough? You are not alone; we feel the same way. A growing number of AI academics can no longer find the means and resources to compete at a global scale. This is a somewhat recent phenomenon, but an accelerating one, with private actors investing enormous compute resources into cutting edge AI research. Here, we discuss what you can do to stay competitive while remaining an academic. We also briefly discuss what universities and the private sector could do improve the situation, if they are so inclined. This is not an exhaustive list of strategies, and you may not agree with all of them, but it serves to start a discussion.
Jason Morris
L Thorne McCarty
Damien Riehl