# How TalkBar uses AI Which TalkBar features use AI, how each feature is routed to a model, and what leaves your computer on each AI path. Canonical URL: https://docs.talkbar.app/ai/how-talkbar-uses-ai TalkBar uses AI to write summaries, answer questions, polish dictation and find knowledge in your conversations. You decide where that AI runs: on this computer, on an Ollama server you run, or at a cloud provider with your own API key. Each feature can even use a different model. ## Two kinds of AI TalkBar runs two kinds of models. **Voice and helper models always run on this computer.** They are never sent to a provider and need no setup beyond a one-time download: - Speech-to-text for live transcripts, **Enhance transcript** and dictation - Speaker detection and voice activity detection - [Live translation](/voice/live-translation) - Document search for your imported documents Your audio is never sent to an AI provider. **AI models (language models)** do the writing and reasoning. These are the ones you route, and they can run locally or in the cloud. ## Features that use an AI model AI settings group the features into four **feature groups**. You can give each group its own model. | Feature group | Feature | What the AI does | | --- | --- | --- | | **Chat & Ask AI** | Chat replies | Answers in [Ask TalkBar](/chats-and-notes/ask-talkbar) chats, grounded in your sessions, notes and knowledge | | | Ask AI | Writes or rewrites note text from your prompt in the notes Ask bar | | **Summaries** | Voice summaries | Writes the live and final summary of each session | | | Timeline | Writes the short live timeline bullets during a session | | **Dictation & voice commands** | Dictation polish | Cleans up dictated text before it is inserted ([Dictation](/voice/dictation#polish-with-ai)) | | | Command interpretation | Understands natural-language commands in chat and maps them to actions | | **Knowledge & titles** | Knowledge extraction | Finds memories, people and companies in sessions and documents during [knowledge scans](/knowledge/review-and-scans) | | | Title generation | Writes short titles for notes and sessions when automatic titles are on | A model has to support what a feature needs. Every feature needs a text model. Dictation polish, title generation and the timeline need nothing more, so small fast models work well there. The other features also need **structured output**. TalkBar only lets you pick models that can serve a feature. ## How routing works **Settings → AI Providers → AI Features** decides which model each feature uses. ### Default model One **Default model** powers every feature you have not customized. There are two: - **Standard**: your everyday choice, used while Private AI Mode is off. - **Private AI**: must be a local model. Used while [Private AI Mode](/ai/private-ai-mode) is on. **Test** sends a tiny request to check that the default model answers. ### Per-feature models Click **Customize** under **Per-feature models** to give a feature group (or a single feature inside it) its own model. For example, a small fast model for dictation polish and a larger one for summaries. Standard and Private AI keep separate choices. A feature you do not customize shows **Inherited** and uses the default model; **Reset** returns a customized one to the default. ### Choices for one chat or one session - **Chats**: each chat can use its own model. Use **Change chat model** in the chat. - **Sessions**: in **New session**, the **Intelligence** row lets you pick the model for that session's timeline and summary, or choose **Private AI** to keep the session on local models. You can also change the model on a session's summary later. ## AI paths and what leaves your computer Where your text goes depends on the provider behind the model. | AI path | Where it runs | What leaves your computer | | --- | --- | --- | | **Built-in AI** | This computer, with models you download under **Private Local AI** | Nothing. Works offline after the download. | | **Ollama on this computer** | The Ollama app on this computer | Nothing | | **Ollama on another computer** | An Ollama server you run on your network | The text a feature works on goes to that computer | | **Cloud provider with your own API key** | The provider's servers (for example Anthropic, OpenAI or Google Gemini) | The text a feature works on goes to that provider | | **CLI tool** (for example Claude Code or Codex) | The tool's own service | The text a feature works on goes through the tool to its service | "The text a feature works on" means what that feature needs: for example transcript text for a summary, your question and the sources the chat uses for a chat reply, or the dictated words for polish. Audio is never part of it. To make sure nothing goes to a cloud provider or CLI tool, turn on [Private AI Mode](/ai/private-ai-mode). It blocks every non-local provider at once. ### Settings that shape outgoing requests In **Settings → AI Providers → Advanced**: - **Redact URLs** strips full web addresses from content before it is sent to the AI provider, replacing them with placeholders. - **Log requests** saves a local copy of every AI request and response for troubleshooting. Logs stay on your computer. - **Custom AI Instructions** adds your own short note (up to 300 characters) to every AI request, such as your role or preferred tone. - **Response Language** sets the language AI answers in. **Auto (Application UI Language)** follows the app language; chat replies in Auto follow the language of your question. You can also keep one person's words out of AI with [Ignore speaker](/voice/speakers#exclude-a-speaker-from-ai). ## Setting up AI The quickest start is **Set up AI** (logo menu → **Set up AI…**, or **Settings → AI Providers → Setup AI**). It walks you through providers and default models, and you can open it again at any time. Details are in [Providers and models](/ai/providers-and-models) and [Local models](/ai/local-models). ## When AI does not work 1. Open **Settings → Doctor** and click **Run all checks**. Each finding links to the setting that fixes it. 2. In **Settings → AI Providers**, use **Test** on the provider, and check **Advanced → Diagnostics** for recent errors. 3. If a cloud provider fails, an alert may offer **Fix now** or **Use Private AI** to switch to local models. 4. For local models, check that they are downloaded under **Settings → Private Local AI**. See also [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting). ## Related - [Providers and models](/ai/providers-and-models) - [Private AI Mode](/ai/private-ai-mode) - [Local models](/ai/local-models) - [AI Providers settings](/settings/ai-providers) - [Privacy and your data](/data/privacy-and-your-data)