Real Open Source AI Definition
At PostOpen.org, we are involved in re-inventing the entire Open Source paradigm. Our new successor is not Open Source. We're very careful to make that clear: our license prohibits calling Post Open software "Open Source".
We are, however, obviously concerned with Open Source, or we would have seen no need to fix it. That's why we were bothered by the Open Source Initiative's "Open Source AI Definition" for a simple reason: It's not Open Source, and they call it Open Source! It is not compliant with the original Open Source Definition and requires less openness of AI than the original Open Source Definition requires of any other software. It's unfortunate that the Open Source Initiative itself is now involved in Openwashing.
It's even more unfortunate since today it is so blatantly obvious that AI that does comply with the original Open Source Definition is being created and used widely, and stands as a threat to proprietary AI in the market. There was no need to create a watered-down definition for AI.
I'm Bruce Perens. I created the original Open Source Definition more than 25 years ago. I did it for the Debian project, with their developers, as part of the Debian Social Contract. I'm here to tell you that there is no need for an "AI Definition", because it's incredibly simple to use the original Open Source Definition to "define" Open Source AI. It just requires this:
- The infrastructure software of the AI system must comply with the original Open Source Definition.
- The training data is the source code for the AI model, and must comply with the original Open Source Definition.
That's all it takes. It makes you wonder what all of the fuss was about, doesn't it? It's hardly even a definition! It's just two rules to use the old one.
There are some complications. Real Open Source AI, if it trains from its input continuously, could not keep any secrets unless you told it "don't remember my chat". And of course if that was the default, it wouldn't learn anything from you. Perhaps that has something to do with why people are so bad about keeping secrets.
So, now we have a Real Open Source AI Definition. Please spread it around!