What is Open-source model?
An open-source model is an AI model you may download and run yourself. How much you may do with it depends on the licence.
With closed models (like the one behind ChatGPT), the company keeps the engine in-house. An open model you can download and run on your own computers. That gives more control and can be better for privacy, because your data does not have to leave the building. Mind the word 'open'. Often only the trained model itself is available, not the examples it learned from. And some licences set limits, on commercial use for instance. So always read the licence.
For sensitive work, an open model running inside your own organization can be attractive. It does take more technical know-how to set up.
Put precisely
The word 'open' says nothing about the licence. Often you can only download the trained model, not the examples it learned from, and sometimes you are not allowed to use it commercially.
Common misconception
That open source means you can do anything with it. Read the licence.
Source: The Open Source AI Definition 1.0, Open Source Initiative
Related words
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