The mainstream audience does not have the faintest idea that "local AI" is even a thing.

Just as their counterparts in 1975 had no idea that "personal computers" were even a thing.

Read through a 1970s-era issue of Popular Electronics or Byte, and then spend some time surfing /r/LocalLlama. You'll get a sense of real-time deja vu, like you're watching history unfold again.