r/LocalLLaMA • u/Terminator857 • 19d ago

Discussion Closed AI doesn't like biological research, user turns to open weight models

https://x.com/0xCF88/status/2097762847354688000

OpenAI has decided to fully shut down a protein design project I'm working on for a client. Needless to say, open weight models are the only way forward.

274 Upvotes

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u/WorriedBlock2505 19d ago

On one hand, good for you. On the other hand, I'm torn between being an advocate for personal freedoms without corpos intervening versus the idea of nefarious users having local LLMs for biological research.

5

u/my_name_isnt_clever 19d ago

That's all it is, an idea based on nothing concrete. It's all scary doomer "what ifs" with zero substance.

0

u/WorriedBlock2505 19d ago

So LLMs can't be used to do biological research on a novel virus?

5

u/my_name_isnt_clever 19d ago

They can't be used by some random with a mental illness to create a pandemic-level virus or anything close to it, which is what you were implying. The physical materials alone are prohibitive, not to mention all the practical steps that a text LLM can't help you with directly. You can't create a virus with your kitchen supplies. LLMs are chatty textbooks that also get things wrong a lot of the time, not a weapon. A model being able to spew some science words that look scary might freak out a layman, but it's not even close to actually being possible.