I still remember when getting into AI felt like an impossible task unless you had deep pockets or worked at a big tech company. Training models required GPUs that were out of reach for most of us, and running anything useful needed a team and servers. But now, everything has changed. Open-source models are everywhere, inference is cheap, and you can build something real with a basic cloud setup or even your local machine.
The crazy part? It’s no longer about money or access. It’s about skills. If you know how to fine-tune a model, build a simple agent, or even just chain prompts well – you’ve already got an edge. So yeah, the tools are pretty much plug-and-play.
The question is: what will you build with them? I’d love to hear how others are using the new wave of open-source + low-cost AI tools. Anyone doing cool stuff on a budget?