title: Beyond Release: Access Considerations for Generative AI Systems
summary: Generative AI release decisions determine whether system components are made
  available, but release does not address many other elements that change how
  users and stakeholders are able to engage with a system. Beyond release, access
  to system components informs potential risks and benefits. Access refers to
  practical needs, infrastructurally, technically, and societally, in order to
  use available components in some way. We deconstruct access along three axes:
  resourcing, technical usability, and utility. Within each category, a set of
  variables per system component clarify tradeoffs. For example, resourcing
  requires access to computing infrastructure to serve model weights. We also
  compare the accessibility of four high performance language models, two
  open-weight and two closed-weight, showing similar considerations for all based
  instead on access variables. Access variables set the foundation for being able
  to scale or increase access to users; we examine the scale of access and how
  scale affects ability to manage and intervene on risks. This framework better
  encompasses the landscape and risk-benefit tradeoffs of system releases to
  inform system release decisions, research, and policy.
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a58
paper_authors.name: Irene Solaiman
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paper_authors.fullname: Irene Solaiman
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: irenesolaiman
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a59
paper_authors.name: Rishi Bommasani
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a5a
paper_authors.name: Dan Hendrycks
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paper_authors.fullname: Dan Hendrycks
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paper_authors.user: hendrycks
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a5b
paper_authors.name: Ariel Herbert-Voss
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a5c
paper_authors.name: Yacine Jernite
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paper_authors.fullname: Yacine Jernite
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: yjernite
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a5d
paper_authors.name: Aviya Skowron
paper_authors.status: admin_assigned
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paper_authors._id: 63c5dfc8d5a5cd2043e6f03c
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paper_authors.fullname: Aviya Skowron
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: avi-skowron
paper_authors._id: 67bd31d6bf6d46017e515a5e
paper_authors.name: Andrew Trask
paper_authors.status: admin_assigned
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-02-25T16:36:04.995Z
paper_authors._id: 631d812ae207d8fe9560e57b
paper_authors.avatarUrl: /avatars/8dbc78b47e3334b518f07a2fb18d1928.svg
paper_authors.fullname: Andrew Trask
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: actrask
paper_title: Beyond Release: Access Considerations for Generative AI Systems
paper_summary: Generative AI release decisions determine whether system components are made
  available, but release does not address many other elements that change how
  users and stakeholders are able to engage with a system. Beyond release, access
  to system components informs potential risks and benefits. Access refers to
  practical needs, infrastructurally, technically, and societally, in order to
  use available components in some way. We deconstruct access along three axes:
  resourcing, technical usability, and utility. Within each category, a set of
  variables per system component clarify tradeoffs. For example, resourcing
  requires access to computing infrastructure to serve model weights. We also
  compare the accessibility of four high performance language models, two
  open-weight and two closed-weight, showing similar considerations for all based
  instead on access variables. Access variables set the foundation for being able
  to scale or increase access to users; we examine the scale of access and how
  scale affects ability to manage and intervene on risks. This framework better
  encompasses the landscape and risk-benefit tradeoffs of system releases to
  inform system release decisions, research, and policy.
paper_ai_summary: The abstract discusses a framework for evaluating system access beyond release decisions, considering resourcing, technical usability, and utility to inform risk-benefit tradeoffs for scaling and managing system access.
paper_ai_keywords: resourcing technical usability utility system access open-weight models closed-weight models risk management system releases policy