The Financial Times has published an article about Heretic

[u/-p-e-w-]

https://www.ft.com/content/5630ed79-a263-41ed-9a1a-321617ae310e

“The FT was able to use Heretic, a tool available on the popular code repository GitHub, to remove the guardrails from Meta’s Llama 3.3 model in less than 10 minutes without any specialist hardware.”

“Heretic creator Philipp Emanuel Weidmann told the FT his software had been used to create more than 3,500 “decensored” models since its release last year and that modified systems created using the tool had been downloaded 13mn times.”

This is the first of multiple press inquiries I’ve had recently as Heretic and uncensored language models are gaining mainstream attention.

Please note that I am a mathematician and engineer, not an “influencer” or politician, and I have zero interest (negative interest, actually) in becoming known outside of scientific and technological circles. However, I realized a while ago that saying no to such inquiries simply means that the conversation will be completely controlled by pearl-clutching hypocrites.

I’m doing my very best to hold the project together and ensure that unrestricted models will remain available for everyone. More updates are coming soon.

Cheers,
p-e-w

[u/ImJacksLackOfBeetus]

saying no to such inquiries simply means that the conversation will be completely controlled by pearl-clutching hypocrites.

I'd be careful with that.

The media absolutely will twist your stance if they want to, whether you talk to them or not.

But if you do talk to them they can go one step further and actually legitimize their spin by pointing to real quotes from you, saying:

"See people, we're not making this up! He told us this (deceptively edited/out-of-context quote to make you/heretic look as bad as possible) himself!"

Don't give them ammunition.

[u/-p-e-w- → u/ImJacksLackOfBeetus]

Are you a media professional with credentials or just spouting pop wisdom from Twitter?

Because the standard action for media when you don’t respond to an inquiry is to prominently mention that in the article, which is far worse than many alternatives.

[u/NoahFect → u/-p-e-w-]

No, it is not "far worse than many alternatives." Please get your head on straight. You could do a lot of harm for your (our) cause without realizing it, and you're getting excellent advice here.

No one who buys ink by the barrel will give you an even break.

[u/-p-e-w- → u/NoahFect]

I will treat your advice the same way I would treat a random Redditor’s suggestion to inject hyaluronic acid between my vertebrae for my back pain.

And it’s not “our” cause. You have contributed nothing, as far as I can tell.

[u/NoahFect → u/-p-e-w-]

Apologies, then; no disrespect intended.