Talk to the Future II: Make an AI Chatbot with Local AI

Go beyond with Local AI!

Join us for Talk to the Future II, a hands-on, interactive session designed to move past the surface to give you a deep dive into the engine room of local AI by making a custom AI chatbot. Whether you're new to AI or looking to deepen your understanding, this session offers a unique opportunity to explore the cutting edge of local Artificial Intelligence. No prior programming experience or participation in Talk to the Future I is required. We'll get you up to speed and ready to build!

What is Local AI?

Local AI refers to the practice of running powerful Artificial Intelligence models directly on your personal computer, rather than relying on external cloud services. This approach offers significant advantages, including enhanced data privacy, the ability to operate offline, and complete control over your AI projects.

What You'll Learn:

This interactive session moves beyond theoretical concepts to provide practical, hands-on experience. Upon completion, participants will have achieved an intermediate understanding of local AI concepts and, more importantly, practical application by building their own AI chatbot powered by local AI, and will be able to:

• Fundamentals of Local AI & Ollama: Understand how to run powerful AI models right on your laptop.
• Ollama Command-Line Mastery: Learn to effortlessly manage, interact with, and customise AI models using the command line.
• Harnessing the Ollama API: Discover how to communicate with Ollama using `curl` to unlock advanced features like streaming, system prompts, and multimodal support.
• Craft Your Own AI: Get hands-on with creating custom model variants using a `Modelfile`.

Event Details:

• Date: November 19th 2025
• Time: 16:00 - 18:00 
• Location: Baines Wing seminar room 2.10

What to bring:

• A laptop and a charger.

Don't miss this opportunity to build your own AI chatbot and take your first step into the future of technology!

See you there!