The Rise of Large Language Models and AI Investment

Large language models have become increasingly popular among companies, with more of them being released than by universities and academic institutions. According to the 2023 AI Index from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, industry was responsible for 32 leading machine learning models last year compared to only three from academia. This trend is due to the need for computing power and other resources to create state-of-the-art AI models.

Another noteworthy finding from this year’s AI Index is that the size and training costs of large language and multimodal AI models began to skyrocket in late 2021 and continued into 2022. Google’s Pathways Language Model (PaLM) has a whopping 540 billion parameters and cost an estimated $8M to train. OpenAI’s GPT-3 created 502 metric tons of carbon during its training phase, the most of any AI model. This creates a large carbon footprint and raises questions about the environmental impact of AI models.

Year-over-year private investment in AI fell for the first time in 10 years, with global AI private investment being $91.9B in 2022, a 26.7% decrease since 2021. The number of AI bills passed by world governments is growing nearly exponentially, with legislative agencies in 127 countries adopting 37 laws containing the phrase “artificial intelligence” in 2022.

However, the number of AI controversies has been rising every year, with greater roll-out of AI and a greater awareness of how it’s misused leading to an uptick in AI incidents and controversies. In 2021, there were 26 times more reported AI issues than in 2012, according to the AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Incidents and Controversies repository.

In conclusion, while large language models have become increasingly popular among companies, there are concerns about their environmental impact and the potential for misuse. Private investment in AI may have fallen, but governments are increasingly passing laws related to artificial intelligence. As AI continues to grow and evolve, it is important to carefully consider its impact on society and the environment.

Source: https://aiindex.stanford.edu/report/

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