Pundit ClaimsAI claims by Gary Marcus and Ed Zitron, with the evidence

Where we are right now on open source and potential AI risk.

We recorded 4 claims from this post. 1 was checked against evidence. 3 can’t be checked. 2 more are held. Read the post at its source.

Claims from this post (4)

In the order they appear in the post. Each quotation is the speaker’s words in this post. A label such as “Supported” or “Can’t be checked” is the claim’s current assessment; its page has the evidence and the reasons.

  1. Assessment: SupportedSaid

    Observation

    “Nobody knows for SURE that there are no serious possible consequences of open source AI, e.g in terms of bioweapons, misinformation generation etc, as Séb Krier at DeepMind nicely highlights above.”

    Our reading: No one knows for certain that open source AI has no serious possible consequences, such as for bioweapons or misinformation generation.

    No horizon Evidence as of

    Limitation: The experiments concern public Llama 2-Chat weights and do not establish equivalent results for every open model or for access through a controlled service [e1].

  2. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    Observation

    “There is a nonzero chance that they have put us all at massive risk, with zero oversight.”

    Our reading: There is a nonzero chance that the company's open source AI push has put everyone at massive risk without oversight.

    No horizon

    Qualifier: nonzero chance

  3. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    Recommendation or value judgment

    “We really ought be a bit more patient about comparing risks and benefits.”

    Our reading: We ought to be a bit more patient about comparing the risks and benefits of open source AI.

    No horizon

    Qualifier: a bit more patient

  4. Assessment: Can’t be checkedSaid

    Recommendation or value judgment

    “The fact that a single company can unilaterally make this decision for all of humanity is terrifying.”

    Our reading: It is terrifying that a single company can unilaterally make the open source AI decision for all of humanity.

    No horizon

    Scope: a single company

Held from this post (2)

These records did not pass every check, so nothing about them is published. Held is not a finding.

  • The two reviews reached different assessments. Our reading, not assessed: The company pushed open source AI as quickly as possible, apparently without external oversight and without waiting for formal results or scientific consensus.
  • The criteria are ambiguous. Our reading, not assessed: A giant company that is behind in AI, at least in public profile, is aggressively pushing open source AI, apparently to raise its profile.