This is a question for the desktop team.
It appears that Canonical is heading into more and more AI lately. Could we be looking at an AI integrated into the Ubuntu Desktop? Something similar to what Deepin recently did? I havent looked at exactly what it is because I dont want to make a deepin account. But theirs appears to just be a chat ui that links back to an AI running on a remote server. So it’s not hosted locally on the users computer.
I have several models from ollama installed locally and they have been extremely helpful by answering a lot of my help questions on how to do things in Ubuntu, formatting emails and spreadsheets for work and other Linux questions in general. I use them through an Obsidian plugin and a desktop app called Msty. It’s helped me with a ton of stuff from the day job to content creation. I dont let it do it for me. Just tell me how to do it. I see AI as a tool. Not replacement for creativity.
Has there been any talk about something similar to Deepin’s AI for Ubuntu? Maybe even an official Ubuntu desktop assistant app?
Not part of the desktop team, but I think Ubuntu will lose popularity if they go down this road. Privacy and legal concerns around AI are still very active, especially after Microsoft’s poorly-implemented Copilot rollout and the Recall disaster.
Frankly if I were using Ubuntu Desktop and AI chat or other features were added, I would probably distrohop because of that, most likely to one of the Ubuntu flavors like Kubuntu or Lubuntu. (I actually am already on Kubuntu, but you get the point.) I don’t want AI chat on my machine, period, and I’d rather install something that didn’t have it included than have to remove it after the fact.
Exactly what and why I want to know.
With all the talks about and articles about AI from Canonical is what made me start wondering if this subject has been brought up.
I like using AI but its a tool and nothing more. And it must be locally installed and in the users control. Not sending data and info back to some unseen server that does with it what somebody else wants.
As much as I like Ubuntu I would jump back to Pop, Mint or Debian in a heartbeat as well.
Hey folks, from my perspective I agree that Ubuntu’s focus on user privacy and security means it would be very challenging to provide a centralised Chat-style service like this in a way that adheres to these values. And that’s before we consider the logistical challenges involved in ensuring that answers to critical system questions are reliable and high quality.
I do think there’s likely more we can do to support locally run AI models that users install themselves and I’d be interested to hear folks thoughts about that.
Thank you!
Every time I ask these kinds of questions you guys always seem to put me at ease.
For user installed AI chats I would love to see some of the desktop apps in the app center. But most of them are very new and seem to progress really fast. So keeping them up to date would prolly not be easy. I know Ollama is in the store. But there is no front end gui’s in the app center. Something like Msty, LMStudio or others would be nice to haves.
Msty is not open source but they do make a deb for Ubuntu and it updates in the app.
LMStudio builds appimages which I am not a fan of.
GPT4All and Jan are both open source but not as feature full as LMStudio or Msty. Plus GPT4All’s ui is not appealing at all.
There are countless others that can be run in docker through a browser. But going that direction is much more technical for the user. Which is why I like it in a desktop app. Cause it’s all contained in that app and if it makes the user (grandma) uncomfortable they can uninstall it and the whole thing is gone.
Other than throwing some of these in the App Center I dont have a clue on how the desktop could support local AI more. Lol, Im not a software engineer.
What kinds of things can you guys do?
Well… I do think running LLMs locally is pretty neat. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a must have, but it’s certainly better than relying on a third party service. To that extent I do like ollama.
I think the idea OP suggested is solid, and honestly, instead of shying away from AI, Canonical should go all in - but with a focus on privacy done right.
Why not build a service that’s as private and transparent as possible? Make it opt-in, lay everything out clearly about how data is handled, and give users full control over what they’re comfortable with. That way, people can actually decide for themselves if they want to use it.
If you put privacy first and keep things transparent, Canonical could offer a smart AI tool that helps users without messing with their trust. It doesn’t have to be one or the other - build it right, and people will know what they’re getting into and can choose for themselves. I think especially enterprise users would love it.
I agree privacy first. The AI should need an Ubuntu One login to be able to use it. This would limit the misuse of the AI. It would be nice if it could packaged in a snap package where it is sand-boxed for security.