The first time I met a PowerShell-based AI desktop project, it seemed about as “user-friendly” as a porcupine in a balloon factory. But here we are, revisiting the brainchild of Brien Posey—a script so ambitious it would make Clippy question his life choices—for a major tune-up with improved performance, smarter logic, and something suspiciously resembling usability.
Chatbot, But Make It Multi-Model—and Multi-Talented
At its heart, Posey’s experiment leverages Ollama, that clever open-source gem allowing you to wrangle large language models locally, far from the prying eyes of cloud-based overlords. The previous version was scrappy, but now, like a reality show contestant in the makeover episode, the script’s undergone significant enhancements. The headline act? You’re no longer tied to just one LLM at a time. You can seamlessly switch between multiple downloaded models, jumping from trivia specialist to code whisperer without losing your conversation history. That alone vaults the tool into “serious research assistant” territory—think less Johnny-Five, more Data from Star Trek, minus the color-coordinated jumpsuit.Switching models is as easy as a click, thanks to a slick dropdown menu—though be warned, the first question for each new AI model is a bit like getting out of bed on a cold morning: it takes a moment to get going.
A Text Editor That Actually Works (And Then Some)
Posey doesn’t stop at smarter model switching. Nearly as game-changing is the built-in text editor. Remember trying to edit AI outputs in Notepad? Those dark days are gone. Now you get a full-featured pane to collect, highlight, annotate, and generally treat AI responses like the rough drafts they are—because, let’s face it, even the best bots sometimes need human help to avoid suggesting you reboot your coffee machine. You can even save your annotated thoughts as tidy TXT or RTF files, so your flashes of brilliance are never more than a “Find” away.How Meta: Using AI to Write Better AI Scripts
There’s a symbiosis here: Generate code using one AI model, paste it into the editor, refine it, and save it for posterity. All from within the same interface. Context menus and robust “find and replace” features (the holy grail for anyone who’s ever inherited spaghetti code) make this almost criminally usable for PowerShell aficionados.Under the Hood: Performance That Actually Delivers
Perhaps the real mic-drop moment? Performance. Gone are the days when swapping queries felt like ordering dial-up internet with a side of molasses. Once a model loads, it stays resident in memory, meaning your subsequent queries glide rather than crawl—unless you can’t resist switching models every other minute, in which case you’ll pay the loading-time toll as usual.And for those living in a distributed world (which, in IT, means basically all of us), the script now supports remote Ollama servers. So you can keep your AI horsepower tucked securely away on a beefier machine, running wild on your local interface.
GUI: Built First, Explained Last
Posey, with enviable honesty, admits he built the GUI before layering in the AI logic. For those truly passionate about the interface, he offers a smorgasbord of sample code and encourages another one of those “web searches” everyone’s always talking about. The takeaway? The GUI is robust, but the magic’s all about how it brings the LLMs, user input, and results together, making PowerShell suddenly feel like the cool kid at the programming lunch table.Hidden Quirks and MVP Touches
If there’s a catch, it’s that some functions—like reloading models or handling extremely complex outputs—are inherently at the mercy of model size and available RAM. This is the price of AI agency: control comes with responsibility (and the occasional slow response). But for those trading cloud dependency for complete privacy, that’s a fair exchange.Final Thoughts (for Now—Stay Tuned)
This is just part one of the journey, with remote connectivity and advanced querying coming in later installments, plus the promise of full source code for all you DIY enthusiasts.In summary, Posey’s refined PowerShell-Ollama mashup elevates the idea of local AI from academic curiosity to practical everyday tool. The only thing it can’t do (yet) is make the coffee to go with your script editing. But give it time. After all, with this many enhancements, “version 3.0” might just come with a barista mode.
Source: Redmondmag.com PowerShell Desktop AI Revisited, Part 1: Code Refinement -- Redmondmag.com
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