How to use Open Assistant - An Open Source chatGPT alternative.
If you are using ChatGPT at the moment but are always looking for alternative AI tools to test out, this article will introduce you to "Open Assistant", a brand new open-source generative AI language model with very similar functionality to ChatGPT but one that is run entirely transparently In the same way that Stable Diffusion helped people make art, they want to improve the world by providing amazing conversational AI.
Related: How to use BlueWillow Generative Ai | The best Free Midjourney Alternative.
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are finding their way into anything and everything already, with Microsoft leading the charge. To date, Microsoft has already added ChatGPT into Edge, Bing, Swiftkey, Microsoft Teams, Office, and their cloud services, with plenty more to come. Amazon is moving to incorporate it into their AWS cloud services, and even Grammarly, the grammar assistant for browsers, is now using a generative AI language model.
Things are really getting crazy! The only real issue with all this is that nearly everyone (at least at the time of writing) is currently using OpenAI and ChatGPT, which is a lot of power and data going to a single location. Which is never, ever a good thing. This is where Open Assistant hopes to change things, by offering a brand new open-sourced generative AI language model that anyone can use. It’s also available in a ton of different languages as well!
How do you use Open Assistant - An Open Source chatGPT alternative?
To start using Open Assistant, simply head on over to the Open Assistant website and create an account using your email address. Once you have created an account, sign in, read the terms, and accept them to continue.
Unlike other AI systems, Open Assistant has a gamified aspect to it, which aims to help train the systems with user input. You can find all of this stuff on the "Dashboard", simply start a task from the list, and you’ll be helping train Open Assistant to become better! Using that is a secondary aspect, though the real action happens in the "Chat" tab, so that’s where we’ll be focusing
Chatting with the Open Assistant Generative Ai Language model.
Now that you are on the "Chat" page, click "Create a new chat" and start asking questions. Just like ChatGPT, Open Assistant will get to work answering whatever questions you throw at it. From my short time using it so far, it seems to be quite factual with its information, and I haven’t had any noticeably incorrect answers. HOWEVER! If you start asking it really recent things like sports scores and outcomes it seems to want to make up answers!
If you’re a frequent viewer of our YouTube Channel, you’ll know that I like to get generative AI language models to write prompts for tools like Midjourney and Adobe Firefly. Surprisingly, it actually works better than Google Bard! This is pretty impressive considering the power and money behind Google Bard…
This was our prompt template:
An image of [adjective] [subject] [doing action], [backlighting], detailed, realistic, UHD, trending on Artstation, in the style of [Science fiction movie 1], [Science fiction movie 2], [Science fiction movie 3] in the theme of [Random trending topic]
Our result from Open Assistant:
an ultra-high definition, detailed and hyperrealistic digital artwork depicting a space station in the theme of "space exploration." The artwork should be set against a dark backdrop with stars visible in the background. The color palette should feature cool shades of blue, silver, and white to create a sense of futurism and advanced technology. Style wise, it could draw inspiration from Interstellar, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune by Denis Villeneuve (upcoming). Trending on ArtStation #spacestation #digitalart #sciencefictionmovies
And our final images:
Pretty damn good prompting for the first time. Unlike both ChatGPT and Google Bard Open Assistant gets really, really descriptive with the templates which helps Midjourney and Adobe Firefly really understand the requests.
The biggest issues with Open Assistant at the moment?!
While Open Assistant does a pretty damn good job answering most questions and putting together different kinds of content, the biggest issue is the queue system which places your request into a queue meaning you may have to get results which sucks if you're in a rush to get answers.
However, you need to keep in mind that Open Assistant is still a relatively new project and the team is working hard to improve the system. They also aren’t backed by billions of dollars in funding!
Outside of this the only other real issue people may have is with the gamification aspect of Open Assistant. While it's a unique and interesting approach to training the system, it may not be for everyone. The good thing about it though is that it can be ignored if you don’t have a need for it.
The best thing about Open Assistant?!
While Open Assistant isn’t going to absolutely blow you away at the moment there are some really important things to consider. Open Assistant has a fully open dataset, which anyone can use to improve AI. It also provides the opportunity for anyone and everyone to run their own AI on their own hardware which is something no other service is currently offering.