AI can read long documents for you. AI is especially useful at work when it is used to analyze or summarize lengthy documents. This can be easily done using cloud services from well-known AI providers like OpenAI or Claude. However, this requires sending your data to their servers.
If you prefer not to do that, you can run the entire process with a local AI on your own computer. This generally requires some technical knowledge. If you are unfamiliar with terms like Docker container or Python script, you might find it challenging.
This is where the open-source app Dot comes in. It allows you to ask a local AI various questions about your documents through a simple chat interface, without your data leaving your computer. But does it work?
Dot processes your documents locally. However, the beta version still has some weaknesses. Dot is currently available in a beta version for Macs with Apple Silicon and Windows computers with Nvidia graphics cards. A Linux version is planned but not yet available.
After installation, Dot downloads the multimodal AI model Phi-3.5-mini by default. You can then import your documents for the AI to work with. Note that you cannot select individual documents, only entire folders. All files within the folders are imported. Dot supports file formats like PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, and MD.
During our test of the Mac version, it was clear that the software is still in its beta stage. Our chat requests frequently caused the program to crash. We are not the only ones experiencing this issue, as seen on GitHub.
When Dot is working without unexpected interruptions, the responses are quite impressive. However, at this point, Dot is not recommended for professional use.
Hopefully, the developers will continue to improve the tool and fulfill the promise of providing a simple AI tool that allows users without extensive technical skills to analyze documents on their own computers.
Dot has potential, but it needs further refinement before it can be a reliable tool for everyday use. It remains to be seen how the developers will address the current issues and enhance its functionality.