The lab is also focusing on open source research, a contentious issue in the tech industry. While companies like Meta advocate for transparency and collaboration, others, such as OpenAI and Google's DeepMind, argue for a closed system to mitigate safety risks. Despite criticism, LeCun maintains that the benefits of open source far outweigh the risks. The lab's new tools include Audiobox, a suite of language translation models called Seamless, a dataset of video shot from different perspectives, and a tool called ROBBIE to detect bias in generative language models.
Key takeaways:
- Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief scientist, reflects on the AI boom and the impact of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which took AI mainstream. He also discusses the surprise of how much impact a tool can have if it doesn't come from a big tech company.
- Meta's AI lab, FAIR, has become one of the most important divisions of the company as AI has become the hottest technology in the industry. The lab is focusing on using AI as the core of new products and is a strong proponent of open source research.
- FAIR is introducing new products and tools such as Audiobox, a suite of language translation models called Seamless, and a tool called ROBBIE to help detect bias in generative language models. They are also releasing an open sourced dataset of video shot from different points of view.
- Despite criticism, LeCun defends Meta's open source approach, arguing that the benefits far outweigh the risks. He criticizes Google's DeepMind for becoming less open, arguing that it slows down progress in the field.