Comment by dofm

I think — and this is not at all a criticism of your comment — that we all have to urgently get out of the habit of calling them “labs”, because in this way we reinforce their ability to portray themselves as sort of scientifically neutral observers of what is happening. I make this error all the time and I am trying to stop.

Though I got told off for saying it maybe too snarkily, I also think that when well-paid, high-profile employees of one of these LLM as a service companies post in controversial or notable ways that could affect the perception of their employer’s products, we should consider that they are acting as a spokesperson. Any tweet where you might think “do I need to consider how this relates to my employer’s SEC filings” is PR. Just because they are acting in informal ways doesn’t mean it’s personal opinion; we shouldn’t give it maximum benefit of the doubt.

Similarly, I think we have to consider that Patch The Planet may be vulnerable to perverse incentives.