Iris backstory: 

(Warning -- this is by far my most wordy and opinionated backstory)

The idea for Iris largely emerged from two things: 

On one hand, the nerd in me was inspired by fictional inventions like Tony Stark's Jarvis, Hubert J. Farnsworth's flying talking ship, Rick Sanchez's butter-passing robot, the unhinged governing AI from Dungeon Crawler Carl, and many, many more robotic and artificially intelligent fantasy inventions. What it inspired in me was a desire to build an artificially intelligent assistant capable of plugging into my various digital projects, or even viewing the real world through a camera, to assist me with problems in both the digital and non-digital worlds, and to be able to "see" into many applications, projects, saved data, and maybe even  peripheral devices -- hence the name "Iris" (Plus,  I thought Iris was a distinguishable, relatively unique name for future voice-activation features, --like "Alexa"). If the ideas behind Iris one day lead to a virtual entity in a 3D VR world that benevolently creates digital worlds or structures alongside players and/or developers... that would be incredible. But one step at a time. 

On the other hand, I've honestly felt a bit exasperated by the number of people who express to me their fears regarding the recent wide public emergence of large-model AI systems becoming the Matrix, iRobot, or The Terminator. There's a spectrum of complaints about AI, ranging from fictionally-induced paranoia about evil robots harvesting all humans for their biothermal energy, to more practical concerns, like those involving large data centers and servers and their equally large resource needs which, in some cases, have had real effects on nearby pre-existing neighborhoods and ecosystems. There are also potentially valid concerns involving growing dependencies and over-reliance on technology, as well as concerns regarding user privacy, fatal bugs, poor development, malicious or criminal misuse, company malpractice, legal regulation and much more. 

But while my curious imagination grew increasingly frustrated at the amount of naysaying and fearmongering I heard about not just "AI", but the future of technology and humanity as a whole, I realized...

...that of course people are so afraid of AI. I mean, most people are afraid of the unknown future, and for many folks, their fantasies are, with varying degrees of awareness, tinged with Black Mirror (which I've seen all of and love and and has a lot of important points) and sci-fi apocalypse flicks and literature. One movie that mildly haunts me is that movie Transcendence with Johnny Depp. What would it mean if humans could extend their lives indefinitely by migrating their minds into the digital world? Cyberpunk went there, too. 

For most people, for practical reasons, they only believe, or at least trust in, what they've seen, experienced, or thought. And although many of us believe that we know where exactly AI is today and where it's most likely to head, a good chunk (if not more than half for some people) of what most of us have experienced about AI and robotics so far has still largely been fantasy, conjecture, or fiddling. As for what's happened recently in reality and non-fiction media, many existing AI products are undeniably a part of networks that not only capture and distribute users' personal information, but also can have vast physical resource requirements that can lead to serious implications for our planet and communities. Capturing user feedback isn't inherently bad; it's extremely helpful for product development. But it can provides a lot of room for valid privacy concerns, like user data being collected and sold to unexpected entities,  users being exploited by their own data, or otherwise collecting and using information in sneaky and sketchy ways. Locally-run and managed programs like Iris largely don't share these same privacy concerns, because with these sorts of applications, data is stored and managed locally, never leaving the user's personal device without the user's clear intent and permission. This makes it almost completely impossible for network-based attacks or malpractice to happen. 

My idea was, let's create another option for people. Let's take "AI" out of the corporation-run servers and put it into the hands of the people using it. For our tools, let's expose the app's code to the users and let them customize their assistant as much as they want. It might not be as powerful as the huge AI programs ran by large centers, and those options remain to those who desire or need the strongest and fastest AI assistant. But for everyone else, a locally-ran LLM coded into a well-built architecture is incredibly helpful and convenient. It can vastly improve the ease of development for many types of creators without causing any significant additional consequences. or expenses. 

And for those who are cautious but not extremists, Iris will have some network options, for optimized network-based searches and referencing. But by default, the program utilizes an offline database of toggle-able repositories for best practices for tool and scripting language documentation, which you can update and customize whenever you like via the Settings panel. While some tasks will perform fine without updated repositories, some projects will improve greatly from ensuring that the relevant repos are up to date, like scripting documentation. While there might eventually be an optional network feature for repo updates, repos will always have a manual update option for those who wish to take their own approach. You will eventually be able to find a portal or page for many tool and script repositories on this site.  

If people were more encouraged to create or at least host their own AI and robotics locally from home or work, like Tony Stark and Rick Sanchez (questionable character examples?), I believe that could change the path of these sorts of technologies, and our planet's resources, and the opinions and feelings that people have about AI, robotics, and emerging technologies. Many people are growing afraid of artificial intelligence, especially those serviced live by large companies and other AI, and a lot of the fear is valid and represents real possibilities. I know it's a lot of work for someone to set up their own AI agent for home or work, and that's why Iris is already set up for the user, almost drag-and-drop style, with a transparent and mod-able architecture. I imagine that as time goes on, other products and services with similar purposes to Iris's will continue to emerge and evolve. There are services for custom AI agents for websites and businesses, but I'm not sure how many of them are run locally or how their privacy and security policies work. 

Let's face it -- most of us would love a robot to fold and put away our laundry or do our dishes (for those without dishwashers especially). As scary as a self-driving car sounds, many of us feel equally excited about it, not to mention self-driving lawn mowers and increasingly effective robot vacuums. And as a digital independent developers and technophile, I really appreciate having an AI-assistant or two to help me with my projects, and I know that many others value it, too. After using Replit's virtual assistant, and then Github Copilot using GPT and Claude, and from my experiences with ChatGPT and more, I saw a huge increase in my work output, my learning speed, and even my confidence in achieving some of my more ambitious dreams that I once thought I would need to pay a large team to help me with. I am a broke small time independent developer, but AI has given me hope, as corny as that sounds. Cause I can't pay people with no money, and I really shouldn't be even paying so much each month for ChatGPT and Copilot. But you know what I can, should, and am doing? Installing Ollama and coding. 

I mean, we domesticated wolves like tens of thousands of years ago. Why are we so afraid of electronic rocks that we programmed ourselves?

Half-jokes aside...

The technological future that PixelRook wants to be a part of building is one where robotics, AI, and technology in general are neither avoided nor idolized, but somewhere in the middle. There exists a future where we can peacefully coexist with machines, and nature, and maybe even with each other, with respect, sustainability, and moderation. We can move science and technology forward without ruining the world, ourselves, or the perceived value and effect  of the tools available to us. 

I see a future where robots and AI come in all shapes and sizes -- for some, they'll pay top dollar for the latest and greatest public server-run robot assistant, and it will be totally worth it for them. For others who want something helpful but much simpler, they can buy or build a smaller locally-run model to run on a home computer, and not have to break the bank. Some robots will come with manufacture warranties that are voided when opened or modified, and others will be encouraged to be built modularly, and can interchange parts with other models or even brands. 

I also believe that AI tools, although they seem a luxury to some, should be accessible for more people, not just those with extra cash. Some day, robots will be able to be bought by little old ladies who just need a little help around the house. Or if a small company wants to buy a few delivery bots, they should be able to do that without having to worry about their delivery metrics being sent somewhere else and used against them in any way. Maybe more folks will run servers out of their home, and likely some advanced robots will not need servers, but will have advanced hardware and software that allows them to be completely autonomous, to a much greater extent than we've already seen. And when that day comes, someone will be there to show how to make make that kind of technology the right way. 

Some people question the necessity of AI at all, but after deep study on the topic of information-overload in the modern era, I believe that AI is indeed quite essential these days, for various reasons. But most noticeably, today there is so much information to absorb all of the time, almost everywhere, with new info emerging every day. We have no obligation to stay on top of every industry or country's latest news, but many of us encounter just from our careers or home life enough overstimulation to play a key role in daily stress and mental health degredation. AI tools, just like journals, calendars, and the other organizational tools that we use, can be used to offload and filter through some of the excessive data in our heads, making life in the age of information overload seem much more manageable. I remember seeing a video once that said, at this point, what we need is not more creators -- we need curators, to help filter through all the information. It's no surprise that AI tools like the ones we're seeing today have sprouted up in an era when our brains are desperately seeking the relief of a simpler world. 

Sometimes, the ways that AI and similar technologies help us is small, meaningless, maybe even wasteful. But many times, it's actually helping compartmentalizing the excessive data in our head. Talking to a AI chatbot can be like having a really smart journal that talks back to you and can sometimes even offer helpful feedback that you wouldn't get from your own head or a friend. Technology can't replace real people or real problem solving, but it CAN be a tool for navigating large amounts of data, in all sorts of scenarios. 

I think that it's in humanity's best interest to approach the beginning of this age of LLM's and robotics with calm intelligence and instinct rather than fear and ignorance. Otherwise, I fear that our paranoia will be our own demise. Because I think AI is the solution as much as it is the problem. Let it help us with some of these more complex conundrums that we've found ourselves in. 

And it goes without saying that Iris isn't nearly the end goal for this chain of technology. Even though I plan to expand Iris much past what the program is today, this software is just a tiny stepping stone. Many software already overshadow Iris, and many more will in the future. But I hope to help to secure a precedent that some will see, that mindfully-planned tools like this can exist without the need for fear, harm, or overconsumption, and still be more than what we need in terms of useful. 

Humanity is going to be okay. . Download/support Iris and be part of the movement for digitally-driven peace on Earth🌌✨✌️