Running AI at Home (Speaker Kyle Flores)

Special thanks to the Hub Coworking Hawaii and Hawaii Center for AI for sponsoring the venue space!

Curious about running AI models directly on your own computer? In this session, Kyle Flores will dive into the basics of setting up and using Local LLMs (Large Language Models) at home. He'll cover why you might want to run models locally, hardware requirements, and where to find the right models and tools. He'll introduce popular frameworks like llama.cpp and LM Studio that everyone can use and play around with.
Topics include:

• Hardware and Setup Basics: What you need and where to start
• Parameter Considerations: How VRAM, context size, and sampling methods affect performance
• Quantization (Quants): How smaller models make running AI easier — and how to pick the right one
• Demo: Live walk-through of using llama.cpp's web UI and building a simple app using an OpenAI-compatible API

No live setup required. Whether you're a beginner or just looking to sharpen your local AI skills, this talk will help demystify the world of running models at home!