The Free Software Foundation Finally Has AI / Machine Learning Apps On Their Radar
The Free Software Foundation announced they are pursuing freedom in machine learning while not being limited to just the software but also the training data as well. They have been spending the past several months debating the matter and are "close to a conclusion" on their statement.
As part of the FSF.org news release on Tuesday:
"All software included in a free ML application has to offer every user the four freedoms that define free software. This applies to both the software that processes training data, and the software that interprets model parameters as context for prompts to produce human-usable output. This is necessary but not sufficient. Additionally, given our current understanding of ML applications, we believe that we cannot say a ML application "is free" unless all its training data and the related scripts for processing it respect all users, following the four freedoms. In addition, granting users the four freedoms may translate into a demand that the ML application's release includes the model parameters that represent its training, and that users are permitted to use and redistribute the parameters and modified versions of them.
ML applications that do not offer the four freedoms to all users are, by definition, nonfree, even if their software components are free."
Arguably, the FSF effort around AI / machine learning is likely to be yet another initiative of theirs that is too little, too late. Largely focused around their praise/guidance but without any engineering resources being committed to advancing free software AI/ML software. And the FSF preparing to make a statement now around late 2024... The AI/ML craze has been ongoing for how long now? Their tardiness persists like their FSF holiday shopping guide last year recommending 802.11n WiFi devices and USB to parallel printer cables among their endorsed hardware of recent years. The FSF has honorable and great intentions but more often than not very late to the party and without meaningful weight for most end users. Just as their high priority software project list often stagnates without action while largely focusing on making bold public statements.
We'll see if the FSF upcoming work on ensuring freedom in machine learning applications yields any improvements but I wouldn't hold my breath beyond the very devoted free software enthusiasts.
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