Hugging Face Launches Open Source AI Assistant Creation Toolkit

Hugging Face, a popular code repository, has unveiled its own AI assistant builder, now available for free and as open source. This innovative service, located within Hugging Face Chat, empowers developers to create custom AI assistants utilizing open-source language models. This is similar to OpenAI's GPT builder, accessible through the ChatGPT Plus subscription service.

The Hugging Face assistant can leverage "any available open LLM, such as Llama 2 or Mixtral," according to Philipp Schmid, the technical lead at Hugging Face. However, it's important to note that users should refrain from inputting confidential information, as these AI assistants are public by default. Additionally, he indicated that function calling—a feature introduced by OpenAI last July for GPT—is currently unavailable.

The open-source community has quickly begun crafting their own unique assistants. These creations range from an image generator to a website designer and even a chatbot themed as an Italian grandmother. Users have the option to develop their own private AI assistants and host them independently, with the Hugging Face Chat user interface available for access.

### How to Create Your Own AI Assistant

To start creating an AI assistant, simply follow these steps:

1. Click on "Create New Assistant" in the top right corner of the Assistants page.

2. Upload an avatar, provide a description of your assistant’s purpose, select your desired language model, and write system prompts in natural language.

For instance, an AI journalist named Aibe was created to gather AI news from around the world, utilizing the 70-billion parameter model of Meta's Llama 2. The user can instruct Aibe to find and summarize AI news, targeting specific regions, industries, or individuals.

**Example User Prompt:** "Ask Aibe to find and summarize AI news."

**Instructions for Aibe:** "You will act as a technology journalist, seeking out news on artificial intelligence from various sources, including social media. Summarize five news stories and provide clickable links to the sources."

After clicking "Create" and then "Activate," users would have their assistant ready to go.

### Testing the Assistant

A test was conducted with Aibe to evaluate its performance in locating the latest AI news in the United States. The bot primarily yielded articles from early 2023, close to the Llama 2 training cut-off date. Although this was expected, it was notable that the assistant occasionally deviated from instructions; at times, it failed to provide clickable links, or those links were either expired or incorrect. Additionally, Aibe sometimes exceeded the requested number of stories, listing eight instead of five.

Following this, a similar AI journalist was created using OpenAI's GPT Builder. Through ChatGPT, the entire creation process was guided, and prompts were refined for clarity regarding the type of AI news to summarize. Notably, GPT Builder has access to real-time information via Bing.

**Prompt Crafted for the AI Journalist:** "As an AI Business Journalist, your primary focus is to cover technological breakthroughs, market trends, company AI implementations, and more within the business sector. Provide a summarized list of five up-to-date and insightful stories, and include clickable links to each."

Using the query, "Tell me the latest AI news," yielded results with accurate links; however, many stories were weeks or even months old. While the bot's output included less crucial updates compared to those curated by the Hugging Face assistant, it offered a wider range of industry-specific news.

In conclusion, both Hugging Face's assistant builder and OpenAI's GPT builder present unique opportunities for users looking to engage with AI-driven content generation. Each platform has its strengths, and the choice between them may hinge on specific user needs and preferences for real-time information and tailored insights.