Exploring Open Source Models with Text Generation WebUI

If you are keen to explore open source models like LLAMA2 and Mistral, the Text Generation Web UI is a remarkable tool to consider. This interface operates much like the well-known automatic1111 stable diffusion’s web UI, but for text generation. One of its prime benefits is that it works offline and doesn't incur any costs associated with services like OpenAI.

To optimize your experience with this tool, having a GPU is crucial; ideally, an M2 Mac or a gaming PC equipped with an Nvidia GPU would suffice. Start by downloading the Github repository, following this, acquire the model from a reputable source, such as Hugging Face, and move it to the models folder within the repository.

Proceed by running 'start mac.sh' or 'start.bat' via your terminal or command prompt. Despite potential errors that might pop up, these should not prevent the UI from running on your system locally. Once the UI is operational, create a new chat and select the desired model from the available list. After loading your chosen model, you're all set to initiate a conversation.

The UI offers customizable parameters. For example, you can configure it to utilize your GPU, alter the random seed to yield more consistent results, or even refine the model's settings to fit your specific needs, such as adjusting token probabilities - an option not typically available in conventional chatbots.

Moreover, some models like LLAMA support grammatical structures enabling the generation of valid JSON output. You can also fine-tune prompts by setting limits on token counts and defining custom stopping conditions.