There is concern among geologists regarding the development of the GeoGPT chatbot, supported by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). They worry about potential Chinese censorship or bias in the chatbot.
Targeting geoscientists and researchers, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, GeoGPT aims to enhance the understanding of geosciences by utilizing extensive data and research on the Earth’s history spanning billions of years.
This initiative is part of the Deeptime Digital Earth (DDE) program, established in 2019 and primarily funded by China to promote international scientific cooperation and help countries achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
One component of GeoGPT’s AI technology is Qwen, a large-scale language model created by Chinese tech company Alibaba. Geologist and computer scientist Professor Paul Cleverley, who tested a pre-release version of the chatbot, highlighted concerns raised in an article in Geoscientist journal.
In response, DDE principals stated that GeoGPT also incorporates another language model, Meta’s Llama, and disputed claims of state censorship, emphasizing the chatbot’s focus on geoscientific information.
Although issues with GeoGPT have been mostly resolved, further enhancements are underway as the system is not yet released to the public. Notably, geoscience data can include commercially valuable information crucial for the green transition.
The potential influence of Chinese narratives on geoscience-related questions raised concerns during testing of Qwen, a component of GeoGPT’s AI, prompting discussions on data transparency and biases.
Future responses of GeoGPT to sensitive queries, especially those with geopolitical implications, remain uncertain pending further development and scrutiny of the chatbot.
Assurances from DDE indicate that GeoGPT will not be subject to censorship from any nation state and users will have the option to select between Qwen and Llama models.
While the development of GeoGPT under international research collaboration adds layers of transparency, concerns persist about the potential filtering of information and strategic implications related to mineral exploration.
As GeoGPT’s database remains under review for governance standards, access to the training data upon public release will be open for scrutiny to ensure accountability and transparency.
Despite the significant funding and logistical support from China, the collaborative nature of the DDE aims to foster scientific discoveries and knowledge sharing for the benefit of global scientific communities.
Source: www.theguardian.com
