Local AI
로컬 AI
AI that runs on your own computer or phone instead of on a company's faraway servers.
Overview
Normally, an AI service sends what you type over the internet to a company's servers, and the computing happens there. Local AI downloads a published model and runs it right on your own device. So your data does not leave your device, you do not need the internet, and you do not pay each time you use it.
A small AI built into a phone or laptop is also called on-device AI. But you can only run a model small enough for the device's memory and chip, so it is not as capable as the big models in a data center. So the work is often split: light jobs on the device, hard jobs on a server.
An everyday example
It is like cooking at home instead of ordering from a restaurant. Your ingredients stay with you and you do not wait for delivery, but there is a limit to what your home kitchen can make.
Why it matters
It matters when you handle data you would rather not send out, such as company secrets or health records. As more small models become good enough to use, AI that runs on your own device is spreading fast.
Also calledlocal model, local LLM, on-device AI, edge AI