I have a 2015 Model iMac desktop I purchased new in 2017. Updates have been long gone. I was wondering if my Mac can support an AI app. Can it? Which AI app is the easiest to use/install on my antique? I'm a technology idiot as you may, or may not know...so easy is paramount.
iMac 21.5″, macOS 12.7
I do not know of any AI applications that will run on an Intel-based Mac under Monterey.
There are Web-based AI services that you can access from a browser like Safari or Firefox. For instance, Google's search engine has an AI mode, and can also search by photo.
Here's part of the output from a simple query about cats. Note that large-language-model AI engines are good at generating detailed text that sounds plausible even when it is totally wrong. But Google AI's output at least has a few links to sources, so you can visit those sources, and judge their reliability for yourself.
The Dezgo site lets you enter a text description to generate an image. E.g., this was the result when I asked it to generate an image of "A calico cat playing a piano."
There are others out there. Note that with any of these Web-based services, the sites could be gathering data on what you search or ask for, much as Google uses the results of regular Google search to drive targeted ads.
I do not know of any AI applications that will run on an Intel-based Mac under Monterey.
There are Web-based AI services that you can access from a browser like Safari or Firefox. For instance, Google's search engine has an AI mode, and can also search by photo.
Here's part of the output from a simple query about cats. Note that large-language-model AI engines are good at generating detailed text that sounds plausible even when it is totally wrong. But Google AI's output at least has a few links to sources, so you can visit those sources, and judge their reliability for yourself.
The Dezgo site lets you enter a text description to generate an image. E.g., this was the result when I asked it to generate an image of "A calico cat playing a piano."
There are others out there. Note that with any of these Web-based services, the sites could be gathering data on what you search or ask for, much as Google uses the results of regular Google search to drive targeted ads.
There are scores of AI apps in the App Store. Each lists which version of MacOS is required. Many are free, you can try them out and use ones you like.
But you don't need to install anything in fact. You can run many AI apps via a web browser, e.g. ChatGPT runs via a browser as well as an app.
I also have an iMac 2015 model and while it does not have anything close to the horsepower needed for integration of AI into the OS (as comes with the newer Macs and iPhones), you can still easily run AI applications via a browser interface, even on an older Mac. The newer Macs I use have the AI integrated into the OS, which can be intrusive and annoying at times, many people disable that or turn it off.
P.S. Note added ... I see now that others posted before me with much the same information, sorry if I was repeating what they had already posted and I had not seen.
Instead of installing an AI app, click the first link below and it will open in your default web browser – probably Safari. You will then have free, private access to several AI systems – no sign up required:
...But if that's not satisfactory, give us an idea of what you want to use AI for, so we can suggest alternatives.
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An Apple II can technically run AI. Just very very (very (very)) slowly.
Specific AI tools and LLMs and ML implementations will have specific hardware requirements. Well past the Apple II, too.
At the age requested for the explanation in the nickname used here, I’d simply ignore the hype.
Some years well past age 2, look at the system requirements for which AI or LLM apps you want to get spendy with, and which you want to cede your information and your money to.
AI has no intelligence, and is an immense pile of data that tries to guess what the next word of an actual correct reply might look like. What the answer might look like. But not whether the generated answer is correct. Sometimes the guess-the-next-word and its corpora is right. Sometimes not. Sometimes it all just “hallucinates”.
FYI, Monterey no longer receives the latest versions of Safari. The version of Safari that you have is likely recent enough to be useful for browsing large parts of the Web, but you may eventually run into sites that have issues.
The current version of Firefox will run even on Catalina, which suggests that Monterey is in line to get the latest version of Firefox for another year or two. Even after that, Mozilla might support Monterey with an ESR version. (They are still providing "critical security updates" for an old ESR version that runs on Sierra.)
2015 iMac AI app compatibility and ease of use?
