ragdoll-studio VS GmsCore

- Basic internet search (I start ollama CLI faster than I can start a browser - https://ollama.com)

- Formatting/changing text

- Troubleshooting code, esp. new frameworks/libs

- Recipes

- Data entry

- Organizing thoughts: High-level lists, comparison, classification, synonyms, jargon & nomenclature

- Learning esp. by analogy and example

RAG for:

- Website assistants (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...)

- Game NPCs (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...)

- Discord/Slack/forum bots (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...)

- Character-driven storytelling and creating art in a specific style for video game loading screens, background images, avatars, website art, etc. (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/r...)

> I always say I want AI to work offline

I'm with you, I'm most excited about this too.

Currently building an AI creative studio (make stories, art, music, videos, etc.) that runs locally/offline (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio). There is a lot of focus on cloud with LLMs but I can't see how the cost will make much sense for involved creative apps like video creation, etc. Present day users might not have high-end machines, but I think they all will pretty soon - this will make them buy them the way MMORPGs made everyone buy more RAM. Especially the artists and creators. Remember, Photoshop was once pretty difficult to run, you needed a great machine.

I can imagine an offline music/movies apps, offline search engines, back office software, etc.

I built a JavaScript library for creating LLM-based game NPCs, here's a video demo: https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...

You drop all their knowledge into a file, like .txt. or .html and it uses RAG to learn everything in the file, so if it's a vendor things like shop inventory, prices, or if it's a storyteller/questgiver you can give it knowledge the player must uncover, etc.

It uses the LLM for natural sounding conversations and instructions ("speak in the style of..." etc.)

> You would also need to load an enormous amount of precedential case law

Very easily done. Is that it?

> lack of common sense, false conclusions

The AI tool doesn't replace the judge/DA/etc. it's just a very useful tool for them to use. Checkout the "RAG-based learning" section of this app I built (https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio) there's a video that shows how you can effectively load new knowledge into it (I use LlamaIndex for RAG). For example, past cases that set legal precedents, and other information you want to be considered. It creates a database of the files you load in, so it's not making those assumptions like an LLM without RAG would. I think a human would be more error-prone than an LLM with vector DB of specific data + querying engine.

> I don't see the utility

Then you are not paying attention or haven't used LLMs that much.

> actual work involved in practicing law

This is what it's best at, and what people are already using RAG for: Reading patient medical docs, technical documentation, etc. this is precisely what humans are bad at and will offload to technology.

> actual research is required

You have not tried RAG.

> LLMs struggle to produce useful outputs

You have not tried RAG.

> LLMs are unlikely to identify issues

You have not tried RAG.

> the LLM by definition is creative analysis

You have not tried RAG.

I've made AI assistants that are perfectly accurate with products, pricing, etc. yet still maintain a human quality: https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...

You can accomplish this with RAG.

Your overall point is taken though, the LLM itself is not enough, fine-tuning is not always feasible, and I think no matter how good an AI persona gets at, say, teaching yoga - for some yoga students it will never replace an in-person instructor.

However for a game NPC, online agent, Discord bot, etc. not to mention research, translation, tutorials, summarizing, etc. there is a lot of present day utility for LLMs.

Very cool app, if anyone wants to try the FOSS alternative to this check out Ragdoll Studio - https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio

Create anyone you want based on a list of documents (URLs), chat with them, have them create images in their style, tell stories, etc.

(runs open models with Ollama, Stable Diffusion, etc. not OpenAI)

I would be curious what Sam Altmans people make, you can share characters here: https://ragdoll-studio.vercel.app

It's a FOSS alternative because instead of using their online platform to make an account in order to interact with their characters, you instead download and run this source code without needing an account to interact with yours, and those in the community - even offline if you want.

There's more to it than just chatting with AI models - these "ragdolls" are based on RAG so they are able to have distinct personalities and scoped knowledge. They can't leak info they don't know about, can't be censored from talking about things they do know about, and can be exported and shared with others on the community site. The model itself is more like the underlying engine, where the ragdoll is a specific persona that you can deploy to a variety of tasks (starting with just chat).

I want to go beyond what character.ai is even dreaming of doing by making this into a creative suite for all things AI: Chat, storytelling, art & visual design, cinematography, CGI, music & sound effects, and so-on. It would be great to have an open-source character-focused tool for making stories, cinematics, films, music, etc. Here's an example that uses a ragdoll as an NPC in a game that has specific knowledge that the player can uncover in order to advance in the game: https://github.com/bennyschmidt/ragdoll-studio/tree/master/e...

Thanks for the question, I will add a section on how these are fundamentally different from just chatting with ChatGPT.

I, an engineer, am not doing this myself, too. There is a middle ground though: just use a privacy-oriented Android build, like DivestOS. [1]

There are a couple caveats:

1. It is still a bit tricky for a non-technical person to install. Should not be a problem if they know somebody who can help, though. There's been some progress making the process more user friendly recently (e.g. WebUSB-based GrapheneOS installer).

2. There are some papercuts if you don't install Google services on your phone. microG [2] helps with most but some still remain. My main concern with this setup is that I can't use Google Pay this way, but having to bring my card with me every time seems like an acceptable trade off to me.

[1]: https://divestos.org/

[2]: https://microg.org/

I have been running de-googled LineageOS since before it renamed/reformed from CyanogenMod, so since somewhere around 2013/14. That has looked rather different depending on what exactly I need from my phone but I'll share what my current set up looks like.

First, I have don't use any kind of Google/Samsung/Apple Pay wallets so if you do, this may not be helpful; I've never looked into trying to get any of those working. Also, by "de-googled" I mean that I don't have GApps installed on my phone. I do have microG[0] installed as a Magisk[1]/LSPosed[2] module; this allows a few apps to believe I have GApps while most apps do not see/have access. I do not turn on microG for any apps (i.e. no connection to the Google servers/services via microG).

Most of my apps come from F-Droid[3], a few from Aurora Store[4] (a 3rd-part frontend for the Play Store that does not require either an account or GApps installed), a very few from FFupdater[5], and have played with using Obtanium[6] but currently only have one (weather) app updating via it. I have several different repositories configured in F-Droid but I don't generally keep mental track of which repository I am dependent on for which apps; the default, IzzyOnDroid[7], Bitwarden[8], NewPipe[9], microG[10], and Collabora[11] are some of them.

I have two banking apps installed via Aurora Store, one of which requires microG and root-hiding (via Magisk module) while the other doesn't require either. My browsers (Firefox, Firefox Klar, Brave) come from FFupdater and none require microG. My texting (QUIK SMS), email (K-9 Mail), TOTP authenticator (Aegis), password manager (Bitwarden), GPS/Maps (OsmAnd), file syncing (Nextcloud), notes (Nextcloud Notes), HN reader (HN), and Contacts/Calendar sync (DAVx5, ICSx5) apps all come via F-Droid (either the main repo or others). I have many others apps which come from F-Droid or Aurora Store but the above are my most used.

For file, calendar, notes, photo, & contact syncing, I have a Nextcloud server set up and find it to work quite well; the Nextcloud apps are also quite good. Someone who doesn't want to run their own could use a hosted account[12]. Contacts & calendars are synced to Nextcloud via DAVx5 & ICSx5.

The primary challenges I am aware of at this point are hardware (it is increasingly difficult to install LineageOS on most hardware due to bootloader locks), and navigation (OpenStreetMap data usually doesn't include addresses in the USA). For hardware, the solution is essentially just to properly research the phone you want to buy; I always make sure the model is well supported by LineageOS before purchasing and then tend to hang on to it for several years. For navigation, I usually find the address on my desktop or mobile browser (via DuckDuckGo) and then manually input the location into OsmAnd before the trip but I also keep WeGo Here maps installed in case I don't have time for that (it usually takes <2 minutes and rarely more than 5 to manually find & enter the address). Additionally, getting the one banking app to work without GApps was a pain in the butt initially (requiring testing several Magisk & LSPosed modules), but now it just works and I don't really think about it.

Overall, I don't find my version of de-googled to be a detriment; my phone is useful and I have more control over my data and over annoyances (such as unnecessary notifications) than I would otherwise.

[0] https://microg.org

Is anyone here daily-driving microg and can share their experiences? https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Implementation-Status does not exactly inspire confidence.

...will need to be rewritten to avoid Google Play Services.

Not true.

All that needs to happen is for open source developers to "re-implement Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries".

https://microg.org/

microG itself connects directly to Google: https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Google-Network-Connec...

No shit, of course they do.

>In general, we obviously try to minimize the connections to Google, but some services strictly rely on them and would just not work without.

What exactly do you think they should do instead?

MicroG

In release notes for GmsCore v0.2.29.233013 (https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/releases/tag/v0.2.29.233013), I also see:

Yes, the Xposed module is one way. There are also other ways

Which one should I use? Is this MicroG's official website right? (https://microg.org/)