Free Software & Openness of Artificial Intelligence

14:10–14:30

@afo - 1st floor | conference hall

#AI #Ethics #FreeSoftware #Licenses #Openwashing #FOSSCompliance

The current influx of AI systems is giving rise to a concerning trend — the widespread incorporation of the term 'open' in discussions about AI technologies. This talk will throw light on the ongoing public debates about Open Source AI. In this talk, I will also delve into the ethical dimensions of the convergence of AI and Free Software, examining the challenges and opportunities in building responsible and ethical AI solutions within the free software ecosystem. Further, I will discuss about proliferation of licenses with additional behavioral restrictions based on ethical considerations for AI models that claim to be Free and Open Source. I will highlight how these licensing schemes create challenges for keeping AI models free and open, mainly because of the complexity of license compatibility and compliance it creates, along with the broad interpretations of ethical values across jurisdictions. I will then also present recommendations on how to preserve "openness" in AI models. This presentation seeks to increase awareness about this crucial issue, particularly as public funds are being allocated to AI projects that may, at times, employ restrictive licensing practices.