With the continuing improvement to LLMs(Large Language Models) available often for free online, we’ve reached (as of June 2025) a point where their complexity and utility is increasingly useful for finding information or clarifying your own thoughts when formulating content for others online.
LLMs are essentially a type of artificial intelligence program designed to understand, generate, and process human language through extensive training on vast amounts of text data. While they may seem sentient and cognisant they are not (this may change as various advancements in AI continue to develop). LLMs are great at processing large amounts of data and responding to patterns in presented queries that represents that data accurately. This becomes especially powerful as patterns of interaction can now be saved for future use by such systems to leverage your unique way of presenting and responding to queries. Not only this, but as the amount of information that can be included in a query increases (due to exponential improvements in AI infrastructure such as more powerful processing capabilities and larger data capacities) the more relevant responses can be. An example of this would be the ability to input an entire novel into a prompt and ask the LLM specific questions about the content.

For the average LLM user free online services may be all that is necessary; such as ChatGPT from OpenAI, Gemini available through Google services or Grok, a part of the X social media platform. Each have their own benefits and accuracy ratings, depending on the type of query presented. Pure text queries are understood by LLMs the best as the sheer volume of training data and accuracy of meaning expressed in words is the least ambiguous of all the data types. As machine vision and recognition of images and visual context improves over time the utility of things such AI in robotics is improving greatly. We are already seeing massive growth in the field of robotics due to these improvements.

When considering options for using an LLM as a supplement to Google or other search provider, your data privacy and security should one of your primary concerns. This is especially relevant when considering who controls the LLM you are using. Companies like DeepSeek are showing incredible promise with comparable performance to Gemini and ChatGPT while operating on budgets that are orders of magnitude less than their competitors. DeepSeek however operates under government systems that have more pervasive control of information available to and exchanged with users. With LLMs being available to use globally, this has the potential to cause conflicts of interest where users originate from systems of government that place more value on freedom of expression and autonomy. Many have found ways to leverage the utility of DeekSeek and other LLMs while remaining anonymous by hosting their own copies of cutback versions of the software on their own computers. Programs like LM Studio can be set up for this purpose with minimal hassle. One of the most relevant considerations with locally run LLMs is the RAM size of the system as the entire program needs to run in memory. Free locally run LLMs have developed over time with very specific tasks in mind to maximise efficiency and performance on less powerful hardware. There are many cutback versions of LLMs to choose from when going down this route. Many specialise in the reason for use such as coding, or text summarisation.

When formulating your own content for online use, the accuracy and utility of the information presented can be leveraged exponentially while maintaining your personal approach and perspectives. One way to accomplish this is to engage in conversation with an LLM on the chosen topic and crystalise your approach by openly considering where your own blind spots may reside, while further improving your own knowledge base (It is important to check information sources though as LLMs are not perfect). The utility and efficiency of your conversations with LLMs improve as your user profile becomes more refined over time