3 ms·

I think that is somewhat off topic. I don't see why rent seeking via IP laws should be bad while doing it via provision of AI wouldn't be.

TeMPOraL 3y ago
LLMs aren't just a mere database containing indexed copies of other peoples' IP. AI companies are charging you for access to a sophisticated automated reasoning system, that necessarily had to memorize half of the Internet in the process of becoming capable of (some approximation of) reasoning. (BTW. that you can even make a system this way is a huge breakthrough that's not being talked about enough.) But even if they were a mere database indexing copies of other peoples' IP, then - copyright issues notwithstanding - the de-bullshittifying of information retrieval process alone would be service worth paying a lot of money for.
- RandomLensman 3y ago
  I think we are talking past each other. Let me try to narrow down where I think we disagree. 1) LLM providers harvest a common to create their product (don't think we disagree here much). 2) What happens next is where we diverge, I suspect: I think they will use their products to extract rents from that common while you think they will provide a fairly priced service. Ultimately time will tell how the business model shakes out. Both could even be happening in sequence.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    > 2) What happens next is where we diverge, I suspect: I think they will use their products to extract rents from that common while you think they will provide a fairly priced service. Phrased like this, I can't really disagree with you. I don't expect a business to play fair in general, when it has a profitable option to do otherwise. I guess my objection is more that right now, I don't see LLMs creating any kind of disincentive to publish quality content. In my eyes, LLMs are not a substitute for quality content in the first place - I see them more like using quality content to create a tool that competes with ad-hoc and shitty content. That's not to say LLMs won't be able to eventually provide high-quality information on their own - but at that point, we'll have more important problems to deal with, such as chunk of humanity being rendered obsolete.
- __loam 3y ago
  LLMs are not reasoning systems. That's one of the major problems with them.

TeMPOraL 3y ago

LLMs aren't just a mere database containing indexed copies of other peoples' IP. AI companies are charging you for access to a sophisticated automated reasoning system, that necessarily had to memorize half of the Internet in the process of becoming capable of (some approximation of) reasoning. (BTW. that you can even make a system this way is a huge breakthrough that's not being talked about enough.) But even if they were a mere database indexing copies of other peoples' IP, then - copyright issues notwithstanding - the de-bullshittifying of information retrieval process alone would be service worth paying a lot of money for.

RandomLensman 3y ago
I think we are talking past each other. Let me try to narrow down where I think we disagree. 1) LLM providers harvest a common to create their product (don't think we disagree here much). 2) What happens next is where we diverge, I suspect: I think they will use their products to extract rents from that common while you think they will provide a fairly priced service. Ultimately time will tell how the business model shakes out. Both could even be happening in sequence.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  > 2) What happens next is where we diverge, I suspect: I think they will use their products to extract rents from that common while you think they will provide a fairly priced service. Phrased like this, I can't really disagree with you. I don't expect a business to play fair in general, when it has a profitable option to do otherwise. I guess my objection is more that right now, I don't see LLMs creating any kind of disincentive to publish quality content. In my eyes, LLMs are not a substitute for quality content in the first place - I see them more like using quality content to create a tool that competes with ad-hoc and shitty content. That's not to say LLMs won't be able to eventually provide high-quality information on their own - but at that point, we'll have more important problems to deal with, such as chunk of humanity being rendered obsolete.
__loam 3y ago
LLMs are not reasoning systems. That's one of the major problems with them.