Reflections on Foundation Models

Recently, we released our report on foundation models, launched the Stanford Center for Research on Foundation Models (CRFM) as part of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), and hosted a workshop to foster community-wide dialogue. Our work received an array of responses from a broad range of perspectives; some folks graciously shared their commentaries with us. We see open discourse as necessary for forging the right norms, best practices, and broader ecosystem around foundation models. In this blog post, we talk through why we believe these models are so important and clarify several points in relation to the community response. In addition, we support and encourage further community discussion of these complex issues; feel free to reach out at contact-crfm@stanford.edu.