Open source AI models can play a vital role in promoting
transparency, competition, and experimentation in AI. Two-thirds of
recent foundation models were released openly, and popular repositories
now boast over a million open models – spanning everything from robotics
and climate prediction to text, image, and voice generation. However,
open models pose unique challenges for oversight. The difficulty for
policymakers is how to respond to emerging risks while preserving the
culture of open innovation that made recent AI breakthroughs possible,
and can help to make AI safer.
Yet open models are particularly vulnerable to overbroad regulatory
intervention. While few policymakers have taken up the call to “ban”
open-source, well-intentioned reforms can directly or indirectly stifle
the open distribution of useful technology. Join Ben Brooks to discuss
this “surreptitious” regulation of open innovation in AI across federal,
state, and global jurisdictions. How should we think about the
opportunity and the risk of open models? How are authorities responding
in practice? What are the unintended consequences of these efforts, and
what can we learn from existing reforms?
Bio:
Ben Brooks is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center, Harvard where he
scrutinizes the regulatory and legislative response to open-source AI
development. Brooks served most recently as head of Public Policy for
Stability AI, a developer of popular AI models, including Stable
Diffusion. He has testified in the US Congress and UK Parliament, and
represented open developers everywhere from the White House to Bletchley
Park. Previously, Brooks advocated for the safe, fair, and durable
regulation of emerging technology with Uber, Coinbase, and Google’s
drone delivery service, Wing, the FAA’s first certified drone “airline”.
He has worked with authorities on the ground in over two dozen
countries as they navigate complex reforms in high-stakes and
permission-based domains – from Mandalay to Texas, and from communist
governments to royal courts. Brooks holds degrees in law, history, and
literature.
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program, speakers or views presented.