Nah, while the list of good things they’ve done is getting shorter, they have pushed the pace in a few areas utterly consistent with their ostensible mandate and they deserve credit for it:
- whisper is really useful, it has good applications in strictly socially positive settings (accessibility as one example), and its scope for abuse is very consistent with how they’ve opened up the weights. the whisper people either still are, or until recently were, doing the right thing.
- the TTS stuff is a little less cut and dried, but TTS is among the more potentially dangerous capability increases, and I can see an argument for going a little slower there, for a number of reasons. I still think they’re behind on opening that up, but the voice group has a case there, even if it is thin and I personally disagree.
- the detection stuff, they were pushing the pace on tools researchers and institutions need. they deserve the same credit for doing that, which I’m giving them, as blame for pulling it, which I’m giving them. that was consistent with their stated mandate.
If you’re going to criticize and institution stridently to the point of calling it a menace, as I am, you are held to a higher standard on being fair, and I acknowledge the good and positive and non-remunerative work, or at lead the headline stuff.
Turning off the good stuff is one more really, really red flag.
