Antonio G. Di Benedetto of The Verge has begun a practical experiment in running AI agents locally, a shift driven by a desire to avoid sharing personal data with cloud services. The core question for readers is whether the capability of local models justifies the cost of high-memory hardware. Di Benedetto notes that while he is not an AI expert, the increasing feasibility of running powerful models on personal devices makes the investment worth investigating. His approach is to document the experience directly, aiming to provide a clear answer on whether the technical journey is worth the financial outlay. A significant part of this evaluation centers on Apple's new Mac desktops, which are marketed on their performance in these tasks. The project will unfold as a series of posts where Di Benedetto shares his findings, offering a non-expert perspective on the utility and frustration of using local AI technology.