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What is a self-hosted small LLM actually good for (<= 3B) (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've tried coding and every one I've tried fails unless really, really basic small functions like what you learn as a newbie compared to say 4o mini that can spit out more sensible stuff that works.

I've tried explanations and they just regurgitate sentences that can be irrelevant, wrong, or get stuck in a loop.

So. what can I actually use a small LLM for? Which ones? I ask because I have an old laptop and the GPU can't really handle anything above 4B in a timely manner. 8B is about 1 t/s!

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[-] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

I think RAG will be surpassed by LLMs in a loop with tool calling (aka agents), with search being one of the tools.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago

LLMs that train LoRas on the fly then query themselves with the LoRa applied

this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025

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