Meta Claims to Have Created the Best AI in the World, and Zuckerberg Says It Will Be Free for Everyone
Meta is shaking up the AI landscape with the release of the Llama 3.1 AI model, which is available for free, sparking both innovation and debate about the risks of open AI models. Meta’s unconventional approach of releasing its latest AI model, Llama 3.1, positions it as one of the world’s best AI models. The Llama 3.1 AI model will be available for free, contrary to the closed systems of other AI companies. While the specific development costs remain undisclosed, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that Meta is investing billions in artificial intelligence.
Questioning Conventional AI Development
Meta’s open strategy challenges conventional AI development and raises concerns about the risks of releasing AI into the public sphere. Llama is designed to avoid harmful responses by default, although users can modify it to bypass these safeguards. Meta claims that the Llama 3.1 AI model rivals leading models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. With 405 billion parameters, it surpasses previous versions with 70 billion and 8 billion parameters. “This is very exciting,” says Percy Liang, an associate professor at Stanford University. He suggests that if the Llama 3.1 AI model proves effective, many developers might switch to Meta’s offering. “It will be interesting to see how usage changes,” Liang adds.
Zuckerberg’s Open Letter
In an open letter, Zuckerberg compared Llama to Linux, which thrived despite initial skepticism towards open-source software. “I believe AI will evolve similarly. Today, several tech companies develop leading closed models. But open source is quickly closing the gap,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Meta’s move also secures its influence among AI researchers and startups, despite Llama 3.1 not being fully open-source due to commercial use restrictions, as noted by Liang.
A Really, Really Big Deal
The latest Llama model is too large for standard computers but can be accessed through cloud providers such as Databricks, Groq, AWS, and Google Cloud. Developers can also use Meta.ai to interact with the latest Llama model.
The new release of Llama could significantly impact AI development, notes Stella Biderman from EleutherAI, highlighting the license change that allows developers to train their models using Llama 3. “This is a really, really big deal,” she says.
“Cybercriminals Will Be Thrilled”
Llama lacks multimodal capabilities, unlike OpenAI and Google’s models, but Meta claims it excels in integrating with other software, potentially enhancing AI utility. Following the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022, some experts called for a pause in AI advancements due to concerns about misuse. Although existential fears have lessened, worries about hacking or weaponization persist.
Geoffrey Hinton, a machine learning pioneer, expresses concern. “Cybercriminals everywhere will be thrilled,” he says. After leaving Google to raise awareness about AI risks, Hinton emphasizes that AI models are harder to scrutinize than open-source software. “People fine-tune models for their own purposes, and some of those purposes are very bad,” Hinton warns.
Praise for Meta’s Testing Efforts
Meta addresses these fears with rigorous security testing for its models and plans to release moderation and safety tools for Llama’s outputs. Future releases will be evaluated individually, says Meta spokesperson Jon Carvill. Dan Hendrycks, director of the US Center for AI Safety, praises Meta’s testing efforts and sees Llama 3.1 as valuable for AI safety research. “The new release of Llama 3 will allow researchers outside big tech companies to conduct much-needed AI safety research,” he says.
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