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This is why AI should be on-device.

by gowld 5y ago

sho_hn 5y ago
Sure. But it's not a crime to build a service that isn't fit for use with every type of data. I think it's OK if I build a service you upload some data to and that does some processing, as long as I make sure you understand what data I get and what I can do with it, so you can decide what data you don't want to give me (or the people who buy me out, or the people who can subpoena me). And I think creating (or mandating) that transparency is probably a precept for offering an alternative product that runs on-device and doesn't have the same trust limitations - because the value prop has to be understood to make it a business. This article may inadvertently bring about a market for "safe translation app for journalists". We need the public to start thinking in these categories if we want a product landscape with both.
- chrisweekly 5y ago
  +1 Insightful Also, when you wrote "precept", did you mean "prerequisite"?
  - sho_hn 5y ago
    I did!
- omnicognate 5y ago
  It obviously isn't and shouldn't be illegal to run such a service, and I don't agree with the idea that all data analysis should be done on the local device. But I don't think "your data never leaves the phone" is something that only journalists and people with similar strong privacy requirements would or should value. All other things being equal, I would always prefer an app that keeps my data local, on principle. The difference being a journalist would make is that I would enforce it, and really journalists should know how to do that. They should be disabling network access, both cellular and wifi (which you can do on Android but I'm not sure you can on iOS) for any app they enter sensitive information into.
elb2020 5y ago
I'm not an AI expert, at all, but can the neural network of an app like Otter run locally on a phone? Is it even possible, processing power wise? Apart from that, I'm assuming that there's an enormous cost sunk into the training of the network. I imagine that alone would make Otter hesitant to let the trained network out of the house, even if it was technically possible.

This is why AI should be on-device.

by gowld 5y ago

This is why AI should be on-device.

Sure. But it's not a crime to build a service that isn't fit for use with every type of data. I think it's OK if I build a service you upload some data to and that does some processing, as long as I make sure you understand what data I get and what I can do with it, so you can decide what data you don't want to give me (or the people who buy me out, or the people who can subpoena me). And I think creating (or mandating) that transparency is probably a precept for offering an alternative product that runs on-device and doesn't have the same trust limitations - because the value prop has to be understood to make it a business. This article may inadvertently bring about a market for "safe translation app for journalists". We need the public to start thinking in these categories if we want a product landscape with both.

chrisweekly 5y ago
+1 Insightful Also, when you wrote "precept", did you mean "prerequisite"?
- sho_hn 5y ago
  I did!
omnicognate 5y ago
It obviously isn't and shouldn't be illegal to run such a service, and I don't agree with the idea that all data analysis should be done on the local device. But I don't think "your data never leaves the phone" is something that only journalists and people with similar strong privacy requirements would or should value. All other things being equal, I would always prefer an app that keeps my data local, on principle. The difference being a journalist would make is that I would enforce it, and really journalists should know how to do that. They should be disabling network access, both cellular and wifi (which you can do on Android but I'm not sure you can on iOS) for any app they enter sensitive information into.

elb2020 5y ago

I'm not an AI expert, at all, but can the neural network of an app like Otter run locally on a phone? Is it even possible, processing power wise? Apart from that, I'm assuming that there's an enormous cost sunk into the training of the network. I imagine that alone would make Otter hesitant to let the trained network out of the house, even if it was technically possible.