[vikramkr]

You wouldn't use a chatbot for the same query you'd use normal search tools for (and on a side note your answer would be much more useful with an example of what those tools would be, it's not really actionable). A vague natural language question over data whose structure you haven't fully understood using terms that might be inexact is not as likely to provide good results with normal search tools as with an llm based tool.

[skydhash]

> your answer would be much more useful with an example of what those tools would be

Paperless, DevonThink, even Calibre (the ebook manager) can do it.

You only need a day or two to categorize the documents. No need for huge amounts of RAM, or privacy concerns, or hallucinated answers.

[dotancohen]

  > You only need a day or two

For some of us, for some types of data, huge amounts of RAM, or even privacy concerns, or even the occasional hallucinated answer, is an easier pill to swallow.

A recent example, maybe not the best example but recent, was the query "What do the three headed dog from the Harry Potter books and the cat from Alien have in common"

[brudgers]

  They are fictional.

[xeromal]

I never want to categorize stuff. I want it done for me.

[ajsnigrutin]

Another (ugly but works nice): https://www.recoll.org/pics/index.html

opensource, local, yada yada, almost zero configuration (just add folders, run indexer, wait).