AI chatbots refuse to produce ‘controversial’ output − why that’s a free speech problem
The ConversationApr 21
Meta Releases Latest AI Model, Adds Free Chatbot to Platforms
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The Facts
Meta unveiled on Thursday the first two versions of its Llama 3 large language model (LLM), which the company claims can outperform much larger models including Google's trillion-parameter Gemini Pro.
The just-launched versions of the model were built with 8B and 70B parameters, a measure that indicates how much data the system is trained on. A bigger 400B-parameter model has yet to be rolled out.
The Spin
Narrative A
As Meta has begun to launch its Llama 3-powered chatbot across apps, users will now be able to ask for restaurant recommendations and access real-time information without having to bounce to a separate page. Additionally, high-quality generated images — and gifs — will be available for free, featuring a watermark label to prevent deep fakes.
Narrative B
Given that Meta's social media platforms have long been fertile ground for misinformation and extremist content, the introduction of a chatbot can only aggravate that issue due to its tendency for "hallucinations" and false responses. It's not because a technology is new that its potential harm has to be accepted.