AI Assistant Without ChatGPT · Live · April 26

Build an AI Assistant Without ChatGPT — Own It Completely

ChatGPT reads your conversations, charges monthly, and sends your data to OpenAI. In this live workshop you build your own AI assistant without ChatGPT — running privately on your own machine, connected to WhatsApp or Telegram, at zero ongoing cost.

Sunday, April 26 9am to 1pm EDT

4 Hours Hands-on coding

Live Online Interactive

Workshop Details

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Date and Time

Sunday, April 26, 2026

9:00am to 1:00pm EDT

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Duration

4 Hours · Hands-on

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Format

Live Online · Interactive

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Includes

Certificate of Completion

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Privacy

100% Local · No Cloud Required

By Packt Publishing · Refunds up to 10 days before

Building an AI Assistant Without ChatGPT

Why Developers Are Moving Away From ChatGPT in 2026

The combination of monthly costs, data privacy concerns, and API dependency has pushed many developers to build their own. OpenClaw and Docker Model Runner make this genuinely practical in 2026 — this workshop shows you how.

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What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is the open-source personal AI assistant that went viral in early 2026 with 200K+ GitHub stars. It runs on your own devices and connects to WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and more. No subscription. No data leaving your machine.

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What is Docker Model Runner?

Docker Model Runner is Docker's native feature for running large language models locally on your machine. It gives you an OpenAI-compatible API that OpenClaw uses as its AI brain — complete data privacy, no cloud costs.

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Why Combine OpenClaw and Docker?

OpenClaw gives you the assistant interface and messaging integrations. Docker Model Runner gives you the AI brain running privately on your machine. Together they create a production grade private AI assistant you fully own.

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Why Attend as a Live Workshop?

Setting this up from scattered documentation takes days of debugging. This live workshop gives you a complete guided build in 4 hours with a live instructor answering your questions. Packt has delivered 108 workshops worldwide.

Workshop Curriculum

What You Will Build as Your ChatGPT Alternative

Six modules. A fully working private AI assistant — no ChatGPT account needed.

How OpenClaw Works

Understand the Gateway, channels, and skills architecture. Set up and configure OpenClaw locally from scratch.

Docker Model Runner Setup

Run and manage local LLMs using Docker Model Runner. Pull models, configure memory, and understand the OpenAI-compatible API.

Security and Privacy

Configure DM pairing, allowlists, sandbox mode, and proper access controls for your local AI deployment.

Connect to WhatsApp or Telegram

Deploy your AI assistant to real messaging platforms without sending data to any third party cloud service.

Scalable Architecture

Design an extensible assistant architecture. Add skills, configure personality, and set up proactive automation.

Production Deployment

Deploy your OpenClaw and Docker setup to a VPS for always-on availability running 24 hours a day.

What You Walk Away With

By the End of This Workshop You Will Have

A working private AI assistant that replaces ChatGPT for everyday use.

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A fully functional local AI assistant running on your machine

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Docker Model Runner configured with your chosen LLM model

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OpenClaw connected to WhatsApp or Telegram

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Security and privacy configuration you can trust

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A reusable architecture for future AI assistant projects

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Certificate of completion from Packt Publishing

Your Instructor

Learn to Build a Real ChatGPT Alternative

A Docker Captain with production experience building private AI systems.

Rami Krispin

Workshop Instructor · April 26, 2026

Rami is a Senior Manager of Data Science and Engineering, Docker Captain, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor with deep expertise in building and deploying production AI systems. He guides you step by step from a blank terminal to a fully deployed private AI assistant — answering your questions live throughout the 4-hour session.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions About Building an AI Assistant Without ChatGPT

Everything you need to know before building your ChatGPT alternative.

Can an AI assistant built without ChatGPT really replace it for daily use? +

For most everyday tasks — answering questions, helping with writing, summarising documents, coding assistance, and conversational interaction — the open weight models used in this workshop perform very well. You will have a private AI assistant connected to WhatsApp or Telegram that you can use throughout the day just as you would ChatGPT.

What is the main advantage of building my own AI assistant over using ChatGPT? +

Three main advantages: complete data privacy since your conversations never leave your machine, zero ongoing cost since there is no subscription, and full control over which model you run and how your assistant behaves. You own it entirely.

Does my ChatGPT alternative built in this workshop have a memory? +

OpenClaw maintains conversation context within sessions. The instructor covers OpenClaw's memory and context handling during the workshop and how to configure it for your preferred behaviour.

Will my private AI assistant built without ChatGPT work on my phone? +

Yes. Since your OpenClaw assistant connects to WhatsApp or Telegram, you can interact with it from your phone through those apps. Your AI assistant effectively becomes available on any device you use WhatsApp or Telegram on.

Can I share my private AI assistant with family or colleagues? +

Yes. OpenClaw's allowlist feature lets you authorise specific users to interact with your private AI assistant. You can share access with selected people while keeping it fully private and secure.

What if the open weight model does not understand something ChatGPT would? +

Open weight models have limitations compared to frontier models. The instructor covers the realistic capabilities of locally running models so you can set appropriate expectations and configure OpenClaw's skills to handle edge cases gracefully.