{"id":518725,"date":"2025-06-17T07:33:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/?p=518725"},"modified":"2025-09-22T14:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:08:12","slug":"my-ai-learning-journey-how-i-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/my-ai-learning-journey-how-i-started\/","title":{"rendered":"My AI Learning Journey- How I Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally posted on JorgeTechBits Substack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My mantra is simple: to keep up with AI, I embrace a culture of experimentation, testing, and side projects. I prefer DOING over merely listening, reading, or watching. (Though I must confess, I do spend a fair amount of time binge-watching YouTube tutorials!) This hands-on approach helps me maintain a high level of understanding, allowing me to support my customers, friends, and family effectively. I also enjoy blogging and sharing my learnings along the way. I wrote about this on this blog post: There is no Manual Dive in!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A question I often receive is: How do I get started with AI?<\/em> What should I do? What do I need? How do I experiment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The truth is, everyone\u2019s journey is unique, shaped by individual backgrounds and experiences. Instead of presenting a step-by-step recipe, I’d like to share my personal journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Journey into AI<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like many, my fascination with AI took off when ChatGPT was released. Its ability to engage in natural language conversations was mind-blowing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this early learning phase, I experimented with platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, Venice.ai, and some others. I was eager to understand how to communicate effectively with AI, leading me to subscribe to multiple platforms for access to the models I wanted to try. Before I knew it, I was subscribing to multiple vendor\u2019s platform to access the more advanced features and understand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I soon discovered that many models are available for download and can be run locally via Hugging Face. Delving deeper, I realized that ChatGPT was merely the front end for a larger AI engine operating behind the scenes. In essence, many chatbots serve as front-end applications with interchangeable back ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began experimenting with local LLM tools like AnythingLLM, LLM Studio, and Ollama\/OpenWebUI. Through this process, I gained insights into various LLMs, their specializations, quantization techniques, and the limitations of my local machine. This prompted me to upgrade to a Mac Mini with an M3 chip, which turned out to be a game changer (for a bit!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As conversations around AI-enabled workflows grew, I explored various tools and eventually settled on n8n due to its unlimited usage and self-hosting capabilities. I set it up on my local machines using Docker. While it was initially great, I soon encountered limitations with my local installation, especially being behind a firewall. I wanted to access everything\u2014LLMs, workflows, and agents\u2014from anywhere and on any machine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, one late evening, I stumbled upon a game changer: OpenRouter<\/strong>. This platform facilitates the deployment of open-source language models, acting as a hub where users can access, host, and utilize over 400<\/strong> language models and functions in a user-friendly manner. OpenRouter has made using advanced language models easier and more accessible, enabling innovation and experimentation in AI-driven applications. By combining OpenRouter with Ollama\/OpenWebUI on my local VPS, I can build any application I desire at a fraction of the cost of signing up for individual services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving to the Cloud<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I started by getting a modest $5\/month VPS\u2014Unix-based with 1 vCPU and 4GB of RAM. I set up Docker to create multiple containers for the apps I needed, including n8n and my personal AI platform (chat). This setup has been responsive, stable, and incredibly educational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later, I upgraded to a larger VPS (2vCPU, 8GB RAM) to handle user-facing applications and manage some of customer workflows and integrations. Running AI through OpenRouter on my VPS has proven to be both fast and cost-effective. I enabled OpenRouter with an initial deposit of $10 and can switch between various models, only paying for the tokens I use. I\u2019ve been using it for three months and still have $8.55 left from my original deposit, which demonstrates just how affordable LLMs can be\u2014unless you’re processing millions of queries daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also recently discovered that platforms like RapidAPI<\/strong> serve as marketplaces for APIs, allowing developers to discover, connect to, and manage APIs from a single location. (Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post about this!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Surprised Me the Most<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Two things have really stood out to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. How much I can accomplish quickly and cost-effectively<\/strong>: I’ve enabled small clients to achieve capabilities that rival the proof-of-concept efforts of larger organizations\u2014often for a fraction of the cost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How much I can learn through hands-on experimentation<\/strong>: Engaging actively with technology has deepened my understanding significantly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    While there are many more details to share, I hope this gives you a general sense of my ongoing journey into AI. It has been a wonderful path of learning and discovery, and I look forward to sharing more experiences with you along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What has your journey into AI been like? Leave me a note on substack<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Originally posted on JorgeTechBits Substack My mantra is simple: to keep up with AI, I embrace a culture of experimentation, testing, and side projects. I prefer DOING over merely listening, reading, or watching. (Though I must confess, I do spend a fair amount of time binge-watching YouTube tutorials!) This hands-on approach helps me maintain a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,441],"tags":[471,930,986],"class_list":["post-518725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey","category-tech-talk","tag-ai","tag-ai-series","tag-local-ai"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":17,"label":"Journey"},{"value":441,"label":"Tech Talk"}],"post_tag":[{"value":471,"label":"AI"},{"value":930,"label":"AI Series"},{"value":986,"label":"Local AI"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Featured-MyAILearning-Journey_Gemini-1024x751.jpg",1024,751,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Jorge Pereira","author_link":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/author\/jorge\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":17,"name":"Journey","slug":"journey","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":317,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":17,"category_count":317,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Journey","category_nicename":"journey","category_parent":0},{"term_id":441,"name":"Tech Talk","slug":"tech-talk","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":451,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":670,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":441,"category_count":670,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Tech Talk","category_nicename":"tech-talk","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":471,"name":"AI","slug":"ai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":481,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":141,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":930,"name":"AI Series","slug":"ai-series","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":940,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":144,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":986,"name":"Local AI","slug":"local-ai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":996,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519413,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518725\/revisions\/519413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}