Bigger is not always better, posits Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer.
Schaeffer is the founder of Synsira Software Solutions and a cofounder of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and he’s referring to artificial intelligence systems.
“Not every AI task needs to be sent to a massive data centre,” Schaeffer suggests. “Sometimes the smartest place for AI to work is right where the information already lives: on your own computer.”
Better than bigger? “Private, practical, and accurate,” says the entrepreneur.
With this vision, Synsira has launched “Kind Local Pro,” an AI platform that operates independently of corporate cloud-based LLM models.
Established in North Saanich this year, Synsira builds “ethical, user-friendly AI products” for “folks who demand privacy and environmental responsibility in AI.”
Kind Local Pro, available for desktops and laptops, is designed for people and organizations wanting the benefits of AI without sending their data to external sources, according to Schaeffer.
He believes that there is “some data and computations that belong in the cloud and some that should never leave your desktop.”
With Kind Local Pro, users add documents, research papers, notes, video, audio, images, and other supported files into offline collections. The content is then indexed, summarized, and tagged by Kind AI.
Building on Synsira’s flagship Kind platform, Local Pro lets users create collections and ask questions across their materials, with answers generated only from their own data.
For an annual subscription fee of $79, Kind Local Pro allows for 10,000 files to be uploaded, up to 500 at a time.
“People want AI to be useful, but they also want to know where their data is going,” explains Schaeffer. “That is not a small concern.”
Indeed, “For many people and businesses, it is the whole issue,” he says.
That’s why the platform is purpose-built for data-sensitive environments such as legal, compliance, intellectual property, and academic research, according to Schaeffer.
“Kind Local Pro was built for users who want AI on their own terms: private, local, and grounded in their own information,” he said.
Read more about Schaeffer’s thoughts on AI in Canada here.
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