Last updated Oct. 29, 2024 :warning: This document is still a work in progress :warning: What is an Open Source AI? TL;DR: An Open Source AI is one made freely available with all necessary code, data and parameters under legal terms approved by the Open Source Initiative. For more details read below. Why did you write the Open Source AI Definition? The point #2 of the Open Source Definition (OSD) says "The program must include source code [...] The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program [...]. Nobody had a clear answer to what is the preferred form to modify an AI system so OSI offered to find one with the communities involved in a co-design process. What's the difference between the Open Source Definition and the Open Source AI Definition?

:::info This checklist is based on the paper The Model Openness Framework: Promoting Completeness and Openness for Reproducibility, Transparency and Usability in AI - DOI published Mar 21, 2024. The Model Openness Framework (MOF) is implemented on the Model Openness Tool website (MOT). ::: Scope of this document This Checklist was developed by volunteers during the co-design process to help reviewers of AI systems to identify and rank the components required to exercise the basic freedoms of Open Source AI. It's been further refined via public comments, on the forum and on the public draft on hackmd. This document should be seen as part of the definitional process, a learning tool: The Checklist is not an operating manual to evaluate Open Source AI. Relationship to the Model Openness Framework

version 1.0-RC2 Preamble Why we need Open Source Artificial Intelligence (AI) Open Source has demonstrated that massive benefits accrue to everyone after removing the barriers to learning, using, sharing and improving software systems. These benefits are the result of using licenses that adhere to the Open Source Definition. For AI, society needs at least the same essential freedoms of Open Source to enable AI developers, deployers and end users to enjoy those same benefits: autonomy, transparency, frictionless reuse and collaborative improvement. What is Open Source AI When we refer to a "system," we are speaking both broadly about a fully functional structure and its discrete structural elements. To be considered Open Source, the requirements are the same, whether applied to a system, a model, weights and parameters, or other structural elements. An Open Source AI is an AI system made available under terms and in a way that grant the freedoms[^3] to:

version 0.0.8 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate legal documents. ::: :::info :information_source: This document follows the definition of AI system adopted by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.

version 0.0.7.1 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate legal documents. ::: :::info :information_source: This document follows the definition of AI system adopted by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.

version 0.0.6 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate legal documents. ::: :::info :information_source: This document follows the definition of AI system adopted by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.

version 0.0.5 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate licenses. ::: :::info :information_source: This document follows the definition of AI system adopted by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.

version 0.0.4 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate licenses. ::: :::info :information_source: This document follows the definition of AI system adopted by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.

version 0.0.3 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; and a checklist to evaluate licenses. We follow the definition of AI adopted by UNESCO https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0449 An AI system is a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy. ::: Preamble Why we need Open Source Artificial Intelligence (AI)

version 0.0.2 :::info :information_source: Note: This document is made of three parts: A preamble, stating the intentions of this document; the Definition of Open Source AI itself; a checklist to evaluate licenses. We follow the definition of AI adopted by UNESCO https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0449 An AI system is a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy. ::: Preamble Why we need Open Source Artificial Intelligence (AI)