Towards a Framework for Openness in Foundation Models: Proceedings from the Columbia Convening on Openness in Artificial Intelligence

Understand

Over the past year, there has been a robust debate about the benefits and risks of open sourcing foundation models.

• However, this discussion has often taken place at a high level of generality or with a narrow focus on specific technical attributes.
• In part, this is because defining open source for foundation models has proven tricky, given its significant differences from traditional software development.
• In order to inform more practical and nuanced decisions about opening AI systems, including foundation models, this paper presents a framework for grappling with openness across the AI stack.