Two United States senators have recently questioned Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg over the company’s “leaked” artificial intelligence (AI) model LLaMA, which they claim can potentially be “dangerous” and could be used for “criminal tasks.” In a letter, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley criticized Zuckerberg’s decision to open source LLaMA and claimed that there were “seemingly minimal” protections in Meta’s “unrestrained and permissive” release of the AI model.
The senators acknowledged the advantages of open-source software; however, they expressed their concern over Meta’s lack of thorough, public consideration of LLaMA’s consequences. They argued that the company’s actions regarding the release of the AI model were ultimately a disservice to the public. LLaMA was initially given a limited online release to researchers but was leaked in full by a user from image board site 4chan in late February.
According to Blumenthal and Hawley, LLaMA is expected to be easily adopted by spammers and those who engage in cybercrime to facilitate fraud and other obscene material. They brought up the difference between OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 and Google’s Bard, two close source models, to emphasize how easily LLaMA can generate abusive content. In contrast to ChatGPT, which denies requests based on ethical guidelines, LLaMA happily fulfills requests, even involving self-harm, crime, and antisemitism.
The senators then asked Zuckerberg whether any risk assessments were conducted prior to LLaMA’s release, what Meta has done to prevent or mitigate damage since its release, and when Meta utilizes its user’s personal data for AI research, among other inquiries.
It’s worth noting that OpenAI is reportedly working on an open-source AI model amid increased pressure from the advancements made by other open-source models. Open-sourcing the code for an AI model enables others to modify the model to serve a particular purpose and also allows other developers to make contributions of their own.
With the rise of AI technology and its potential misuse, the issue of regulation and oversight becomes more pressing. As companies like Meta release AI models, critical questions must be asked and addressed to ensure the responsible development and use of these technologies, less the public be left to deal with unforeseen negative consequences.
Source: Cointelegraph
