Look, I’d love to give you some profound insights about Harvard’s latest PR stunt, but I’m nursing this hangover with bottom-shelf bourbon, and the words are still doing that annoying dance across my screen. But here we go anyway.
So Harvard, that breeding ground of future tech overlords, just announced they’re “gifting” the world with nearly a million public domain books. How generous of them to give away stuff that was already free. It’s like when that guy at the end of the bar offers to buy you a drink with the twenty he just borrowed from you.
The whole thing’s backed by Microsoft and OpenAI, which should tell you everything you need to know. It’s like watching your landlord hand out free moving boxes while raising the rent. “Here’s some cardboard, now get lost.”
They’re calling it the “Institutional Data Initiative,” which sounds about as exciting as my last blind date. But here’s the real story: they’re taking books Google already scanned (remember when that was the scary tech monster under our beds?) and repackaging them as some kind of AI training miracle cure.
Greg Leppert, the guy running this show, says it’s about “leveling the playing field.” Right. And I’m about to win a marathon. The field’s about as level as my kitchen floor after last night’s whiskey spill. What they’re really saying is, “Here’s a pile of old books nobody’s reading anyway. Go build your own ChatGPT, peasants!”
The funny part? They’re throwing in everything from Shakespeare to “obscure Czech math textbooks.” I actually tried reading a Czech math book once. Turns out math doesn’t make any more sense in Czech, especially after six shots of Jameson.
Burton Davis from Microsoft (and doesn’t that title just roll off the tongue - “vice president and deputy general counsel for intellectual property”) says they’re creating “pools of accessible data.” Which reminds me, I need to clean my pool. Just kidding, I live in a basement apartment.
Here’s where it gets interesting: while they’re handing out these digital bread crumbs, dozens of lawsuits are piling up faster than empty bottles in my recycling bin. Everyone’s suing everyone else over AI training data. The tech giants are basically that guy who copies your homework but changes it just enough to not get caught.
And the real kicker? Microsoft isn’t even planning to use this data for their own AI models. They’re just funding it to look good, like when I buy a round for the bar right before asking someone to help me move apartments.
The Boston Public Library’s getting in on the action too, scanning old newspapers. Because if there’s one thing AI needs, it’s more outdated news. Maybe they can train it to predict yesterday’s weather.
They haven’t even figured out how they’re going to distribute all this stuff yet. They’re asking Google to host it, which is like asking your ex to store your furniture - technically possible but probably not the best idea.
Look, I’m all for democratizing technology. Hell, I’m writing this on a laptop I won in a poker game (sorry, Dave). But let’s call this what it is: a PR move wrapped in academic credentials, served with a side of corporate virtue signaling.
The truth is, while the big players are busy patting themselves on the back for giving away what was already free, they’re still hoarding the good stuff like I hoard my emergency bourbon (third drawer down, behind the tax returns I never filed).
Bottom line? This whole thing reminds me of that bar that advertises “Free Beer Tomorrow.” The sign’s always there, but tomorrow never comes.
Time to wrap this up. My bottle of Wild Turkey is giving me that come-hither look, and who am I to resist?
Stay cynical, stay human, Henry
P.S. If anyone from Harvard’s reading this, I’ve got some old tech manuals in my basement. They’re mostly coffee-stained and might have a few cigarette burns, but hey - free data is free data, right?
Source: Harvard Is Releasing a Massive Free AI Training Dataset Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft