How to Use ChatGPT-Like Model Offline on Your PC
If you are looking for a way to use a ChatGPT-like language model offline on your personal computer, Stanford's recent release of the Alpaca model offers a solution. You can now use this AI language model without an internet connection. Here's how you can operate an LLM locally without an internet connection:
What is Alpaca?
Alpaca is an AI language model developed by computer scientists at Stanford University. It has just 7 billion parameters, making it small in size and affordable. Despite its small size, Alpaca performs just as well as OpenAI's text-davinci-003 model and can be run on a local computer without an internet connection. To train Alpaca, scientists fine-tuned it on LLaMa, a large language model created by Meta. The LLaMa model was trained using self-instruction data generated by OpenAI's text-davinci-003 model. Stanford's Alpaca LLM performed better than Meta's LLaMA model in testing and is also fast.
Hardware Requirements
To operate Alpaca, you would require hardware that is suitable for running the software. An individual who has installed Alpaca 7B on an entry-level PC reported that it worked efficiently. Their PC was equipped with a 10th-Gen Intel i3 processor, 256GB SSD, and 8GB RAM. They had opted for an Nvidia entry-level GeForce GT 730 graphics processing unit with a 2GB VRAM.
Operating on macOS
Typically, macOS already includes a pre-installed version of Python, meaning that users only need to install Node.js (version 18.0 or higher) to begin using a large language model offline. Here are the steps to install Node.js on macOS:
- Install Homebrew (a package manager for macOS) by entering the following command on the terminal: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
- Install Node.js using Homebrew by entering the following command: brew install node
Operating on Linux and ChromeOS
To run Alpaca and LLaMA models offline on Linux and ChromeOS, it is necessary to set up both Python and Node.js. The following steps outline how to do this:
- Install Python using the following command on the terminal: sudo apt-get install python3
- Install Node.js using the following command: sudo apt-get install nodejs
After installing Python and Node.js, you can proceed to install and run a language model similar to ChatGPT on your computer. Prior to installation, ensure that the Terminal can detect both the python and node commands.
By following the given instructions, one can operate a ChatGPT-like language model privately and entirely offline, achieving satisfactory outcomes. In the future, more advanced and powerful language models may become accessible, which can be executed on devices ranging from smartphones to small-board computers such as Raspberry Pi.
