Exploring PyTorch and open source AI tools with Sahdev Zala

Watch this video on building AI solutions with open source tools.

Sahdev Zala, an open source developer and advocate at IBM, sat down with the All Things Open team and shared his insights on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the open source ecosystem.

Key takeaways

Excitement around AI

• Sahdev expressed enthusiasm about AI’s transformative impact on development, particularly within open source. He highlighted projects like PyTorch, which has emerged as a leading framework for machine learning and deep learning, emphasizing its open governance and community-driven nature

Innovative projects

• InstructLab is a collaborative platform for open source model development created by IBM and Red Hat, which allows for streamlined AI model collaboration
• Other significant projects include Kubernetes and Kubeflow, which facilitate distributed AI training and model deployment at scale

Daily use of AI

• Sahdev actively contributes to PyTorch and utilizes various IBM AI tools, including Watsonx Discovery for document insights and Watsonx AI Assistant for building custom bots quickly

Considerations for developers

• When evaluating AI tools, developers should consider their use cases (personal vs. business), costs, and the transparency of the data used to train models
• It’s crucial to check if the tools are built on open source foundations to avoid vendor lock-in

Community engagement

• Sahdev encouraged developers, especially newcomers, to contribute to open source projects as a way to support the community and gain valuable experience
• He also emphasized the importance of mentorship for those with more experience, helping guide new contributors

Sahdev’s insights highlighted the importance of community and collaboration in leveraging AI within the open source landscape, making a compelling case for developers to actively engage in the open source community.

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