Is There PDF AI reader that can answer Questions about a book or a academic papers you read?

Software
1

Is There PDF AI reader that can answer Questions about a book or a academic papers you read? without subscription, bring your own key style.

2 Likes
2

It will be difficult to find one that does not require a subscription, as they all have to pay for AI use. PDF Expert will do that for you, but requires a subscription.

You may want to try running LLMs locally using tools such as LM Studio. Or try MindMac, or BoltAI, with your own API key for OpenAI/ChatGPT so you pay depending on how much you use it.

Also, you may want to try Google’s NotebookLM which lets you upload documents and ‘talk’ to them. It works without a subscription reasonably well, but a subscription removes some of the limits (you can upload more documents, i.e. the context window is bigger).

3 Likes
3

Any of the AI apps that let you upload PDFs and also let you use your own API key will do one off PDFs quite happily. Doing it with longer PDFs is the challenge because of context window limits

1 Like
4

Check out Msty, scroll down the “RAG Done Right” section.

Here is the section in the documentation for this feature: Knowledge Stack Basics - Msty Docs

Have fun!

PS - Free for personal use.

2 Likes
5

I’ve been toying with elicit. Targeted specifically at academia/research and other things I’m not smart enough for.

1 Like
6

PDF Pals

1 Like
7

Over on YouTube a creator called NetworkChuck has made several videos regarding self-hosted AI with various machines and LLMs. He has even made one using multiple Mac Studios.

If you require something private, or without a subscription, one of the examples he has created might serve your needs.

1 Like
8

Note that Msty (mentioned above) uses Ollama and can run completely locally, although an internet connection is required for the initial download of models.

If you’ve already installed Ollama, then Msty will detect and use it. Otherwise, Msty will handle the installation and setup (and thus avoiding the need to use the command line, a barrier for some).

And NetworkChuck is worth checking out if just for the entertainment value.