Vicuna is an open-source chatbot trained on conversations shared by users from ShareGPT, and it can be executed locally on your machine using CPU or GPU. It achieves more than 90% quality compared to OpenAI ChatGPT and Google Bard, and surpasses other models like LLaMA and Stanford Alpaca in most situations. The code for training and serving, along with an online demonstration, are publicly accessible for non-commercial use. You can locate the online demonstration here: https://chat.lmsys.org/. To install Vicuna on your machine, you should adhere to the installation steps on the GitHub repository.
Vicuna, a member of the camel family, is a mammal native to the high Andes mountains in South America. It is a small, swift, elusive animal known for its luxurious coat of soft, fine wool used to make some of the world’s most expensive garments.
The vicuna has an elegant appearance, being a slender yet muscular animal standing at approximately 80 cm tall. An adult can weigh up to 65 kilograms with the males usually being larger than the females. They are a light yellowish to tan or reddish brown colour, and they have long, thick, dark brown fur on their necks, legs, and tail. The fur on the rest of their body is shorter so it can be more easily groomed or clipped.
Vicunas are grazers, which means they feed on grasses and other plants. As they roam the steep and rocky terrain of the Andes, they can gallop and even leap up to five meters onto rocky cliffs to make escapes. They tend to be most active at dawn and dusk and they live in small herds of up to 20 individuals, consisting of a male leader and his harem of females and young.
The most prized part of the vicuna is its luxurious wool, which has been used for centuries by local populations to make blankets, ponchos, wraps, and other garments. To protect this valuable resource, the Andean governments have declared the vicuna mostly protected since 1974. Hunting and trapping of the animal is strictly prohibited, but some countries still allow for periodic shearing of the vicuna for its soft, light wool. This shearing is overseen by the Peruvian and Chilean governments to ensure it is done humanely and sustainably.
Vicuna wool is highly sought after due to its rarity and fine texture, and a single garment made of it can cost more than ten thousand US dollars. This expensive wool has also been used to create coats, bedding, and other household items.
Nowadays, with more sustainable management of the wild vicuna populations, these magnificent creatures are making a slow comeback and are able to once again thrive in their natural environment. This is a testament to the power of conservation, and a reminder to take good care of the world’s precious natural resources.
