[int_19h]

Considering this statement from the author, buried at the very end:

"I admit I have an allergic reaction when many open-source advocates expose their socialist tendencies from Europe, academia, or both. ... America's tech success is subject to endless criticism from those who missed out, but we handily won the last tech wave because American capitalism aligns users and companies for the long term."

I'd take everything else in this article with a huge grain of salt.

[kmeisthax]

This whole article is a long-winded way of saying, "Hey, nerds! The gravy train's over! GPUs aren't free and Bill Gates was right! You can't eat freedom[0]! Either you point a gun at your users' temples or you starve to death!"

In some sense this is right, at least as long as all the research we're replicating boils down to "hey if you double the GPUs and data you get double the model quality". But whenever you make the "shit costs money" argument, you also entertain a moralistic co-argument: "I am entitled to supracompetitive profit". And this guy is definitely on the side of "pay up, capitalism works, you pinko commies".

The problem with this argument is that the datasets we currently train on are already stolen data. With the exception of extant FOSS licensing, which probably allow training[1], of course. The argument for closed models boils down to "we are entitled to be paid for our model but the artists and writers we stole[2] from are not".

[0] The clarion call of any savvy fascist

[1] Good luck figuring out how to comply with CC-BY-SA though

[2] In the Valentian sense where recording a movie onto a VHS tape makes you a home-invading rapist.

[kelnos]

This line in the second paragraph killed the author's credibility/objectivity for me; I didn't even get to the bit you reference:

> an unusual open-source alliance has formed among developers who want handouts

Handouts? Really? I've been an open source user and developer for decades now, and... "handouts"? I'm not even sure what to say to that.

At this point in my life I'm convinced that the style of capitalism practiced in the US is a failure. It gives you a lot of initial gains (which are, no doubt about it, quite important) but ultimately creates an untenable, inhumane situation for lots of people. I'm not convinced that European-style socialism (whatever that is; it's not like all the European countries are united on that front) is the answer either, though. I think a unique blend of capitalism and socialism is likely the only way forward without further wealth concentration and income inequality (not to mention planetary-scale ecological destruction, since the current forms of capitalism don't incentivize us to pursue sustainability in the long term). I'm not sure what that blend is, and I'm increasingly pessimistic that the people in power will allow us to get there, even if the alternatives will be disastrous for them as well.

[SequoiaHope]

Wow seriously. It’s funny to hear “socialist tendencies from Europe” after having just listened to Yann LeCunn talk about his views on the need for open source AI. He says simply that the world needs diverse views and we can’t have a small number of companies from the west coast of the US serving as gatekeepers to the world’s knowledge. He’s from France and says the French government wouldn’t be satisfied with that arrangement either. He says we need freedom of information access for the same reason we need a free press.

So yeah LeCunn doesn’t want a small number of private companies to control our information. I wonder if the author views that as “socialist”.

[kelnos]

> we can’t have a small number of companies from the west coast of the US serving as gatekeepers to the world’s knowledge

I've lived on the west coast of the US for 20 years now, and the prospect of this terrifies me. In a "humanity's future is bleak" sort of way.

[TaylorAlexander]

Yeah I mean, I have lived here my entire life, so 39 years. Honestly it's not like this area is uniquely terrible, though living here does give you lots to point out as problematic, but we simply should not have any single group controlling our information, whether that is silicon valley people, west coast people, Americans, etc etc.