How Private AI Works
Want to understand what's happening behind the scenes? Here's everything explained in plain English.
What is AI, really?
When people talk about AI like ChatGPT, they're usually talking about something called a Large Language Model (LLM). Don't let the fancy name intimidate you - here's what it actually means:
It's a very sophisticated autocomplete
At its core, an AI model predicts what words should come next based on what you've typed. It's learned patterns from billions of examples of human writing, so it can generate text that sounds natural and helpful.
The model is just a file
An AI model is essentially a large file (usually between 2GB and 50GB) that contains all the "knowledge" the AI has learned. When you download a model, you're downloading this file to your computer.
Your computer runs the AI
When you run AI locally, your computer does all the thinking. It loads the model file into memory (RAM) and uses your processor (CPU) to generate responses. No internet needed after the initial download.
Cloud AI vs Private AI
Cloud AI (ChatGPT, etc.)
When you use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini online, here's what happens:
- 1You type your message
- 2Your message travels over the internet to their servers
- 3Their computers process your request
- 4The response travels back to you
- 5Your data may be stored and used for training
Private AI (on your computer)
When you run AI on your own computer:
- 1You type your message
- 2Your computer processes it locally
- 3You see the response
- 4That's it. Nothing leaves your computer.
What is "Open Source" AI?
"Open source" means the creators have made their AI models freely available for anyone to download and use. This is a big deal because:
Free to Use
Unlike ChatGPT which costs $20/month, open source models are completely free. You download them once and use them forever.
No Data Collection
Since you run it yourself, there's no company collecting your conversations or training on your data.
Constantly Improving
Researchers and companies around the world keep releasing better models. New options appear every few months.
No Subscriptions
Run AI as much as you want without worrying about monthly fees or usage limits.
Popular Open Source Models
- Llama 3 - Made by Meta (Facebook), very capable
- Mistral - Made in France, great for reasoning
- DeepSeek - Excellent for coding tasks
- Gemma - Made by Google, lightweight and fast
Why Does RAM Matter?
You might have noticed we ask about your computer's RAM (memory). Here's why it matters:
AI models need to fit in memory
When you run an AI model, it gets loaded into your computer's RAM. A more capable model is typically larger, requiring more RAM. If you don't have enough RAM, the model either won't run or will be extremely slow.
More RAM = more capable AI
With 8GB of RAM, you can run smaller, faster models that are great for basic questions. With 16GB or more, you can run larger models that are smarter and can handle complex tasks like coding or long documents.
Common Questions
Ready to try it yourself?
Now that you understand how it works, let's get you set up. We'll guide you through every step.
Check My Computer