Hugging Face

What is Hugging Face?

Hugging Face is an open-source online platform where users can create and share new online products and content by using the Hugging Face library of artificial intelligence (AI) models, repositories, datasets and toolkits.

The platform hosts over 2 million of these AI models, some of which have broad uses and others which are designed to do a specific task – for example, translating text, recognising images, or analysing emotions in sentences. Most Hugging Face AI models are built for a single, specialised purpose, while many other popular AI services like ChatGPT are designed to handle several different tasks. There are also many popular general-purpose models that are available on Hugging Face such as Deepseek, Llama, Phi,  OpenAI's community GPT models, and Google’s public sample AI model Gemma.

Hugging Face has a feature called ‘Spaces’, which are ready-to-use AI projects you can try in your web browser, such as chatbots, image editors, or translation tools. Most ‘spaces’ don’t require any coding knowledge or installation, making them an easy way for people with less technical experience to explore Hugging Face.

Hugging Face also has a large library of  AI model repositories that developers can use to build their own new apps and tools. These models provide the underlying technology of an AI system, but developers need to create their own user interface and features around them to make a complete product. They can also fine-tune the models using their own data to improve accuracy or adapt them to a particular purpose. Since everything Hugging Face hosts is open source, people can see and use the code behind most of these models, unlike closed-source platforms like ChatGPT or Gemini.

To help people use these models, Hugging Face created something called the ‘transformers library’. This is a toolkit written in Python (a coding language) that gives developers a simple way to download, test and use AI models. In short, the Hugging Face website (also called the Hugging Face Hub) is where you find and share AI models, and the transformers library is the tool you use on your computer to run them. To use the transformers library, you will need to have both Python and the transformers library installed on your computer, and you will also need some basic coding knowledge.

For example, if someone wanted to create an app that translates English into Spanish, they could find a translation model on the Hugging Face website and use it as the base for their app. Developers usually connect the AI model to their app using Hugging Face’s tools or its online API (application programming interface), which makes the model run and return results. From there, they would still need to build the rest of their app, like the design and buttons people use to interact with it.

Hugging Face also hosts large datasets – collections of information that models can learn from. Datasets can include anything from things like articles and text, videos, images, statistical tables and translated content. These are shared openly, so people don't have to gather and clean data themselves.

The platform has a community feature where you can take part in public discussions. You can also follow other users to see what they create and like their work.

Hugging Face also has an AI chat feature called ‘HuggingChat Omni’. It works in a similar question-and-answer chat format to services like ChatGPT. It uses open-source AI models to answer your questions – so instead of relying on just one model, it can ‘route’ your request to the model that is most suitable for the task, for example, writing, coding or translating.

When using Hugging Face, you should be aware that models can sometimes contain unsafe code like viruses or programs that could damage your device. Hugging Face has partnered with Protect AI which scans models for malicious code. Users can see safety results before they download the model.

While Hugging Face states it removes models that breach its policies, there have been reports of users uploading models that can generate non-consensual or adult material, as well as other harmful material.

Hugging Face has both free and paid account options.

Website: https://huggingface.co/

How to report content

This link is provided by Hugging Face:

• Report content
  How to report content that violates Hugging Face’s policies.

Key safety links

These links are provided by Hugging Face:

• Terms of service
  The terms you agree to when using Hugging Face
• Privacy policy
  The types of information Hugging Face gathers from users, and how it uses that information.
• Content policy
  Information about the types of content Hugging Face authorises to be posted on its platform.
• Code of conduct
  The expected behaviour and standards Hugging Face has for its users.