My Private, Free AI Setup

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools , a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here . Short on time? Read this 30-second summary of today’s post. 👇 Download a free, private AI program to run on your computer. Use it offline without any subscription cost and avoid the risk of having sensitive info ingested into a large language model like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. The newest versions of private AI tools like Jan run easily on my 2021 Mac laptop, cost nothing, and are easy to use. They’re a good alternative to costlier AI platforms. 🔰 Quick start guide Download and install Jan for free. Other good free alternatives to consider include Msty , AnythingLLM , or LM Studio . Open Jan and pick an open-source large language model. The model you use impacts the AI’s response style. You can switch anytime. I use the v1 model. Try your first query. Here are a few quick mini prompts to start with: “Summarize the pros and cons of using AI for [specific task].” “Turn my rough notes below into a short summary and bullet points.” “Turn this angry email draft to my service provider into a constructive message more likely to generate a helpful response.” Adjust the app’s appearance settings, including font size and shortcuts. Close other processor-intensive apps on your computer, like video editing tools, to reduce the likelihood of your computer slowing down. 🕵🏻 5 reasons to use private AI Save money: Avoid subscription fees by running AI models on your own computer. Generate unlimited responses without monthly charges. Keep your data private: Using private AI on your computer ensures no data is sent to or stored on big tech firms’ servers. No conversations leave your device. You can even run these tools offline. For sensitive legal, medical, financial or personal issues, ask questions without worrying about your data ending up in a large language model’s training data. Work offline: Having full offline access is handy whether you’re traveling without Wi-Fi, working in a remote area, or hesitant to trust a random public network. Experiment with hundreds of open-source models: Choose an open-source large language model that suits you. Each is trained differently. Some are stronger at certain languages, others specialize in coding. New ones emerge regularly. Switch as often as you’d like. By contrast, ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini limit you to the platform’s own models. Tip: Use LM Arena to compare two models’ responses side by side. Reduce your environmental impact: If you run hundreds of daily prompts, a local AI app may mean less use of internet infrastructure and remote data servers. Private AI tools allow you to keep your data on your laptop, though they may not be as powerful as top AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. [Image: generated with ChatGPT ] 💫 Jan is an excellent, free, private AI tool Platforms: Mac, PC, Linux What I like about it Fast and easy to...

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