So I've got some open source AI models running locally on my machine now. I actually find the image and 3D model generation ones to be pretty useful -- I mean I'm not doing anything *important* with them, but generally after a lot of finagling and tweaking prompts I can come up with something that looks at least as good as and sometimes even better than the thing I set out to make. And I do genuinely enjoy the creative back-and-forth of prompt tweaking and the ability to really play with variations on a theme. It's neat.

What I've done less with, however, is the chat functions. A lot of the open source chat models just won't run for me (whether that's because my CPU doesn't have dedicated AI hardware -- my GPU does -- or configuration issues or other reasons, I cannot say), but the ones that do are, uh, interesting. Granted, local open source models were never going to be as knowledgeable as ChatGPT or Gemini (the things I have can't access the internet and rely on data last updated in 2024), but even taking that into account they're just... well. Let me show you.

One thing I like to do to evaluate AI chatbots is to ask them about things I know really well. I'm currently directing Salome, so that's on my mind -- and as a test, I asked the local AI for five memorable/important quotes from the play. I also specified that it could say that it couldn't answer the question, which sometimes it does -- but here the chatbot was pretty confident that it did know, and it delivered five quotes and scenes that are definitely not in the play at all. (I did admittedly ask ChatGPT the same question for comparison's sake -- 5/5 on that front, including context.)

Now, there's also a "temperature" setting -- this allows one to adjust the "creativity" of the outputs. The chatbot really does think it *knows* everything it's outputting -- it doesn't know it's being creative and making up stuff -- so, in an effort to get closer to its "actual" knowledge on the matter, I turned the temperature down from its 0.7 default to 0.1 and then asked for three Salome quotes. I also did so in "reasoning" mode, which ostensibly allows one to see the thinking processes that led the AI to deliver certain outputs. Still 0/3 in terms of both text and context.

Anyway, we went back and forth, and ultimately the chatbot described a scene in which Salome kills the king of Israel. That led to the exchange below -- I didn't get a final output, but I could see the reasoning it employed in response to my response. And... well.

I wrote:

Salome does not kill the king of Israel in the play.

And here's the output:

Reasoned for 198.7 seconds

Okay, the user is pointing out that my previous answer was incorrect. They mentioned that Salome doesn't kill the King of Israel in the play. I need to correct that.

First, I should recall the actual plot of Salome. The play is a dramatic and controversial work by Oscar Wilde. The story is based on the biblical tale of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, who danced for Herod and then asked for John the Baptist's head.

In the play, Salome is a young woman who is obsessed with her uncle, the King of Israel. She goes to the court, dances, and then requests the head of John the Baptist. However, the King is hesitant, and Salome is the one who ultimately gets the head. Wait, no, that's not right. Let me think again.

Wait, in the play, the King is actually the one who is the one who is killed. Wait, no. The original story is that Salome (Herodias' daughter) dances, and then she asks for John the Baptist's head. John is executed, and then Salome is the one who is the one who is the subject of the story. But in Wilde's play, the plot is different.

Wait, the user is correct. In the play Salome, the King of Israel is actually the one who is killed. Wait, no. Let me get this straight.

In the original story, Salome is the daughter of Herodias, and she is the one who asks for John the Baptist's head. John is executed, and then Salome is the one who is the subject of the story. But in Wilde's play, the plot is different.

Wait, the user is saying that in the play, Salome does not kill the King of Israel. So I need to correct my previous statement.

In the play Salome, the King of Israel is actually the one who is the one who is the subject of the story. Wait, no. Let me check.

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