The paradigm shift of open AI

By Caleb Onah

…as AI progresses rapidly, the decisions made by major tech companies – Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon will significantly influence the future of open-source AI. Striking a balance between innovation, collaboration, and the pursuit of competitive advantage presents a critical challenge in shaping the trajectory of the AI landscape.

Open-source AI embodies the principles of transparency, accessibility, and collaboration, which have propelled its rapid growth and adoption. Unlike proprietary AI systems, open-source AI projects provide access to their source code, allowing developers to study, modify, and distribute the software freely. This openness promotes innovation, accelerates AI research, and empowers developers to build upon existing solutions, ultimately leading to groundbreaking advancements in AI technologies.

The landscape of open-source AI is undergoing significant changes as tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft reevaluate their commitment to open development. A leaked memo from Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, highlights concerns that the open-source free-for-all may jeopardize the dominance of Big Tech in AI.

While open-source AI models have fueled innovation, their sustainability relies on companies with substantial resources. Models such as LLaMA from Meta AI and BERT from Google have become foundations for many open-source projects. However, the attitude towards open development is shifting, with OpenAI already reversing its open policy due to fears of increased competition.

This shift could result in the next generation of AI breakthroughs being controlled by the wealthiest AI labs, posing a risk to the open-source AI community. In recent years, open-source AI has experienced significant growth, with major players like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon contributing to its advancement. These companies have shared their AI technologies, including Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s TensorFlow, and Microsoft’s Computation Network Tool Kit; Open-source AI enables thorough examination, troubleshooting, and bug-fixing, crucial for AI systems that learn, adapt, and make decisions. Moreover, it fosters innovation by allowing successful entrepreneurs to seamlessly integrate their creations into larger parent companies. Organizations like EleutherAI have also thrived by leveraging OpenAI’s openness to reverse-engineer GPT-3 and develop their own models.

The availability of open-source AI models has facilitated global access, development, and experimentation, driving creativity and innovation. Nevertheless, the open-source AI boom faces challenges. Building large language models from scratch is expensive and complex, limited to a few organizations capable of undertaking the pretraining process. Furthermore, as AI becomes a critical competitive advantage, companies with extensive research capabilities might reassess their commitment to open development.

OpenAI’s recent policy reversal due to competition concerns exemplifies this shift. As AI models become more competitive and valuable, tech giants like Google and Meta may opt to limit open development. While open-source AI has undoubtedly propelled progress in the field, its future hangs in the balance. If tech giants withdraw their support, the opensource AI community may struggle to sustain growth in place, both with respect to administration, execution of government policies and programmes as well as payment of local government staff (both retired and active), among other things that need to planned, defined or worked out before conducting local government election. Ironically, Prof. did not tell us how long it is going to take to put these modalities in place. and innovation. However, there are still advocates for open-source AI.

I really do not know how local government administration in Anambra State became rocket science. Anambra State is one of the states with the highest potentials of operating a functional local government system if the councils are disentangled from the apron strings of the state government. The constitutional functions of the councils include collection of rates, building and management of markets, construction and maintenance of rural roads, naming of streets, numbering of houses, registration of births, deaths and marriages, and administration and funding of basic education and primary healthcare.

I can say without any fear of contradiction that Anambra is the state with the largest concentration of markets in the SouthEast. The Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, from Onitsha market alone sustained the government of the Old Anambra State, comprising today’s Anambra, Enugu and parts of Ebonyi State. Nnewi boasts of the biggest motor parts market, while markets are scattered in Awka, Ogbunike, Nkpor, Obosi, Nnobi and Ekwulobia.

A person as educated as Soludo needs no education on the benefits of grassroots democracy. In its true meaning, democracy is synonymous with grassroots democracy. The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people and “kratos” meaning power. Where else are the people found if not at the grassroots?

The local government is the tier of government closest to the people. Majority of the people at the grassroots in Anambra, especially those in the rural communities may not have the opportunity of seeing Governor Soludo all through his eight-year tenure. That is if he gets a second term. On the other hand, they could easily see their elected councilors and even chairmen and hold them accountable.

•Nzomiwu, a social commentator, wrote from Awka, Anambra State.

For instance, Hugging Face recently introduced HuggingChat as the first open-source alternative to ChatGPT. Additionally, LunaSec, a company utilizing OpenAI’s products, aims to transition to open-source alternatives in the future. These efforts demonstrate a persistent belief in the advantages of open-source AI and the importance of maintaining a diverse ecosystem for AI development.

As the landscape of open-source AI continues to flourish, driven by the collaborative shifting efforts of a vibrant community in the past. The availability of powerful frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, and Apache MXNet has democratized access to AI technologies, fostering innovation and enabling individuals and organizations like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon to push the boundaries of what AI can achieve. As opensource AI projects evolve, they play a vital role in shaping the future of AI by addressing ethical concerns, expanding into emerging domains, and enhancing transparency and accountability. By embracing open-source AI, we can collectively unlock the immense potential of artificial intelligence for the benefit of society.

Furthermore, as AI progresses rapidly, the decisions made by major tech companies – Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon will significantly influence the future of open-source AI. Striking a balance between innovation, collaboration, and the pursuit of competitive advantage presents a critical challenge in shaping the trajectory of the AI landscape.

Caleb Onah is a Public Policy Analyst.

Unemotionally asking: Is it lawful to slap a police officer?

By Isaac Asabor

However, it is also expedient to urge the police and the power that be to temper justice with mercy in handling his case. To me, availing justice to him in the case would mean reparation for the plethora of injustices done to his father when he was alive.

If there is any cautionary statement that was issued to Nigerians that they should never molest a Police Officer besides the extant legal provision in the same respect as enshrined in Section 356 of the criminal code act, which says that attacking a police officer is a serious offense and that such actions can be regarded as a felony, it is unarguably the one issued by the Force PRO, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, to Nigerians in September 2022 where he sternly warned that no one has the right to respond if a policeman in uniform slaps anyone.

Adejobi has said that if a policeman should slap a ‘civilian’, the person has no right to retaliate. AdejobI, who took to his Twitter account, advised any such victim to file a complaint with the law enforcement agency.

It is expedient to clarify that his cautionary statement came in reaction to a viral video of a man dragging a rifle with a policeman during a heated argument and that he further stated that if a person should assault police personnel in uniform, it would be seen as ‘an act of disrespect to Nigeria.’

He said, “Even if a policeman in uniform slaps a civilian, the civilian has no right to retaliate. More so, if he’s in uniform, it’s an act of disrespect to Nigeria to beat an officer in uniform. The disrespect is not to the policeman but to our nation and it’s a crime as enshrined in our criminal laws.

“So, it’s not a case of what the policeman did that led to it, but the reaction of the civilians who actually assaulted the police. If police assault a civilian, you report and actions will be taken to rebuke him, not to take the law into your hands.”

Disappointingly, the foregoing warning as issued by the Police, and which was widely condemned by Nigerians, particularly by the Netizens that majorly comprised of the millennial and GenZ generations, was allegedly contravened by Nigerian musician Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, who has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, according to authorities.

It will be recalled in this context that the Lagos state police on Monday, May 15, 2023, said that an Order had been made on

Saturday for the arrest of the Grammy-nominated saxophonist and singer after a viral video showed him on a road, shouting and apparently pushing and hitting a policeman.

Expectedly, Seun’s action has drawn the ire of the Police Authority and some Nigerians, with the police issuing a statement wherein CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, states that “The InspectorGeneral of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, CFR has ordered the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command to arrest Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, who was captured on video assaulting a police officer in uniform.

The IGP has equally ordered a speedy and full investigation into the remote and immediate cause(s) of the assault and prosecution of the suspect accordingly.

IGP Usman Alkali Baba assures Nigerians that acts of contempt/disdain for symbols of authority will not be tolerated while offenders of such hideous crimes will be surely brought to the book.

Dispassionately looking at the issue, Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ0 asked, “Is It lawful to hit a Police Officer?

As analyzed by the platform which is an independent, notfor-profit organization that combats injustice, holds power to account, and speaks for the voiceless says, “The short answer is No. Assaulting a police officer is a severe offense in Nigeria, known as a felony. By definition, a felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness and is punishable in Nigeria without proof of previous conviction, with death, or with imprisonment for three years or more. Slapping a police officer is an assault and, thus, a felony.

According to Section 356 of the Criminal Code, a felony is a serious assault. The section goes thus:

“Any person who (1) Assaults another with intent to commit a felony or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of himself or of any other person; or

(2) “Assaults, resists or wilfully obstructs a police officer while acting in the execution of his duty, or any person acting in aid of a police officer while so acting; or

(3) “Unlawfully assaults, resists or obstructs any person engaged in the lawful execution of any process against any property or in making lawful distress while so engaged; or

(4) “Assaults, resists or obstructs any person engaged in such lawful execution of process or in making lawful distress with intent to rescue any property lawfully taken under such process or distress; or

(5) “Assaults any person on account of any act done by him in the execution of any duty imposed on him by law; or

(6) “Assaults any person in pursuance of any unlawful conspiracy respecting any manufacture, trade, business, or occupation, or respecting any person or persons concerned or employed in any manufacture, trade, business, or occupation, or the wages of any such person or person, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years”.

At this juncture, it is expedient to say that in as much as this piece cannot be said to be prejudicial, it was inspired by the need for other Nigerians, particularly the youths to learn from Seun’s mistake.

Ordinarily, one would not have bothered to express this view on this platform when there are other pressing issues that are of national relevance. However, Seun being a popular musician and the son of one of Nigeria’s greatest musicians who exited the earth years back, the possibility of his mistake being accepted to be the norm by some vulnerable and feverish youths cannot be ruled out, and that could be very disastrous as the police, despite its essentialities can seemingly be rubbished and disregarded to the detriment of the nation’s already poor security architecture. Take or leave it, it is no more news that the officer’s powers and duties are conferred by statute and that the fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent, keeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality, and justice. Given the foregoing, members of the Nigerian Police would be demoralized if their efforts is not acknowledged and applauded by the generality of the public. In as much as the Public perception of the Police says so, we should always appreciate their efforts as that will no doubt boost their collective morale as public servants. After all, which segment of the country’s economy has its workers or operatives doing well to be appreciated?

However, it is also expedient to urge the police and the power that be to temper justice with mercy in handling his case. To me, availing justice to him in the case would mean reparation for the plethora of injustices done to his father when he was alive.

Isaac Asabor is a Public Policy Analyst.