| > a deterministic process that is simply parsing input from a single source and outputting it in a new form is not the same thing as a stochastic process that interpolates patterns from multiple sources and then uses those patterns to generate novel outputs. There are stochastic compression algorithms (e.g. https://github.com/kaydotdev/sqic) and it would be insane to claim they don't produce derivative works. And as a general rule, a work based on multiple other works is derivative of all af them. > If I build a Markov chain based on a statistical analysis of word sequences in Hamlet, and then use it to produce a new sentence that isn't found in the text of that work, I have not created a derivative work of Hamlet under any applicable sense of that term. No, but your generated text is also useless if you want to read Hamlet. The danger I'm speaking of is people generating Hamlets but paraphrased - that's a derivative, especially if you use an automated tool that got original Hamlet as its input. Except the Hamlet in question is the Linux kernel but not bound by GPL. Also, your Markov chain itself is a derivative work. > I don't think that is generally true. There's always been a hope and expectation that some subset of users would contribute back to the project in the ways you're describing, but never a sense of there being any obligation to do so. Only a fraction of FOSS users have ever contributed to back to the projects whose software they use. True, but that fraction of a huge number is still big enough to be meaningful help. Plus the recognition. Most users respect the attribution clause. AI legally-distinct clones drop the fraction of helpers and the number of attributions straight down to 0. That changes the equation, what previously made sense now straight up doesn't. > But in cases where LLMs actually are acting in ways similar to the former, I agree that they should be held accountable both socially and legally. And because OpenAI et al. hold all the money and all the lawyers, the only way to hold them accountable is to stop publishing open source altogether. That's the only leverage OSS community has. |