AI 'GOLD RUSH' FOR CHATBOT TRAINING DATA COULD RUN OUT OF HUMAN-WRITTEN TEXT
Techlife News|June 08, 2024
Artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter — the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online.
AI 'GOLD RUSH' FOR CHATBOT TRAINING DATA COULD RUN OUT OF HUMAN-WRITTEN TEXT

A new study released Thursday by research group Epoch AI projects that tech companies will exhaust the supply of publicly available training data for AI language models by roughly the turn of the decade -- sometime between 2026 and 2032.

Comparing it to a “literal gold rush” that depletes finite natural resources, Tamay Besiroglu, an author of the study, said the AI field might face challenges in maintaining its current pace of progress once it drains the reserves of human generated writing.

In the short term, tech companies like ChatGPTmaker OpenAI and Google are racing to secure and sometimes pay for high-quality data sources to train their AI large language models – for instance, by signing deals to tap into the steady flow of sentences coming out of Reddit forums and news media outlets.

In the longer term, there won’t be enough new blogs, news articles and social media commentary to sustain the current trajectory of AI development, putting pressure on companies to tap into sensitive data now considered private — such as emails or text messages — or relying on less-reliable “synthetic data” spit out by the chatbots themselves.

“There is a serious bottleneck here,” Besiroglu said. “If you start hitting those constraints about how much data you have, then you can’t really scale up your models efficiently anymore. And scaling up models has been probably the most important way of expanding their capabilities and improving the quality of their output.”

The researchers first made their projections two years ago — shortly before ChatGPT’s debut — in a working paper that forecast a more imminent 2026 cutoff of high-quality text data. Much has changed since then, including new techniques that enabled AI researchers to make better use of the data they already have and sometimes “overtrain” on the same sources multiple times.

This story is from the June 08, 2024 edition of Techlife News.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 08, 2024 edition of Techlife News.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TECHLIFE NEWSView All
7 CHINA BANS EXPORTS TO US OF GALLIUM, GERMANIUM, ANTIMONY IN RESPONSE TO CHIP SANCTIONS
Techlife News

7 CHINA BANS EXPORTS TO US OF GALLIUM, GERMANIUM, ANTIMONY IN RESPONSE TO CHIP SANCTIONS

China announced this week it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.

time-read
3 mins  |
Techlife News #684
FINANCIAL AND COMMUNITY HURDLES SLOW GEOTHERMAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Techlife News

FINANCIAL AND COMMUNITY HURDLES SLOW GEOTHERMAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Providing round-the-clock energy, using minimal space and considered a clean source of power-geothermal energy seems like an ideal option for countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, where the potential is high, and governments are seeking to transition away from highly polluting fossil fuels.

time-read
3 mins  |
Techlife News #684
CANADIAN NEWS PUBLISHERS SUE OPENAI OVER ALLEGED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Techlife News

CANADIAN NEWS PUBLISHERS SUE OPENAI OVER ALLEGED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

A coalition of Canadian news publishers, including The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia and CBC/Radio-Canada, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for using news content to train its ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence system.

time-read
1 min  |
Techlife News #684
AUSTRALIA IS BANNING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PEOPLE UNDER 16. COULD THIS WORK ELSEWHERE - OR EVEN THERE?
Techlife News

AUSTRALIA IS BANNING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PEOPLE UNDER 16. COULD THIS WORK ELSEWHERE - OR EVEN THERE?

It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history — one that experts say could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success: keeping kids off social media until they turn 16.

time-read
5 mins  |
Techlife News #684
BANK OF AMERICA SIGNS AGAIN WITH FIFA FOR US-HOSTED CLUB WORLD CUP THAT STILL HAS NO TV DEALS
Techlife News

BANK OF AMERICA SIGNS AGAIN WITH FIFA FOR US-HOSTED CLUB WORLD CUP THAT STILL HAS NO TV DEALS

World Cup sponsor Bank of America teamed with FIFA for a second time, signing for the Club World Cup that still has no broadcast deals just over six months before games start.

time-read
2 mins  |
Techlife News #684
AT&T SEES EARNINGS GROWTH OVER NEXT 3 YEARS; EYES MORE THAN $40B IN ANTICIPATED SHAREHOLDER RETURNS
Techlife News

AT&T SEES EARNINGS GROWTH OVER NEXT 3 YEARS; EYES MORE THAN $40B IN ANTICIPATED SHAREHOLDER RETURNS

AT&T anticipates earnings growth over the next three years thanks to the momentum of 5G and fiber services.

time-read
1 min  |
Techlife News #684
IN A WORLD OF GREAT NEED THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO DONATE MONEY THAN EVER.HOW SHOULD YOU GIVE?
Techlife News

IN A WORLD OF GREAT NEED THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO DONATE MONEY THAN EVER.HOW SHOULD YOU GIVE?

Millions displaced by global conflicts. Communities reeling from unseasonably strong natural disasters. Lives upended due to healthcare inequalities.

time-read
5 mins  |
Techlife News #684
US EXPANDS LIST OF CHINESE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES UNDER EXPORT CONTROLS
Techlife News

US EXPANDS LIST OF CHINESE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES UNDER EXPORT CONTROLS

The U.S. Commerce Department has expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software.

time-read
2 mins  |
Techlife News #684
INTEL CEO GELSINGER RETIRES; ZINSNER AND JOHNSTON HOLTHAUS NAMED INTERIM CO-CEOS
Techlife News

INTEL CEO GELSINGER RETIRES; ZINSNER AND JOHNSTON HOLTHAUS NAMED INTERIM CO-CEOS

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired, the struggling chipmaker said Monday in a surprise announcement.

time-read
2 mins  |
Techlife News #684
LANDLORDS ARE USING AI TO RAISE RENTS.AND CALIFORNIA CITIES ARE LEADING THE PUSHBACK
Techlife News

LANDLORDS ARE USING AI TO RAISE RENTS.AND CALIFORNIA CITIES ARE LEADING THE PUSHBACK

If you've hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you're not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company's software - which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information ― to help set rent prices.

time-read
7 mins  |
Techlife News #684