Using Base Prompt to restrict AI Assist responses

Using AI Assist can help businesses respond to a wide range of customer queries with detailed, specific information. Left untethered though, the AI Assist may respond to queries or comments that you don’t want it to. This article is designed to help you understand when and what instructions can be used to make sure the answers AI Assist provides are within the bounds of knowledge given as Data Source, your individual business needs, or industry-level best practices.

When we talk about Data Source, we mean the knowledge given to AI Assist to contextualize the answer that consists of selected information from Shortcuts, the Knowledge Base and Plain Text.

For troubleshooting purposes you can view the Data Source by toggling a button next to AI Assist reply in Preview mode that can be accessed from ⚙️Administration ➞ Add-ons ➞ AI Assist

In the screenshot below you can see Data Source for the sample question in Preview mode.

Restricting AI Assist to given knowledge is ideal when your operation is driven by detailed documentation or scripted chat flows. This ensures consistency and adherence to predefined responses.

Base Prompt instruction for restricting AI Assist to your Data Source (given knowledge) in default settings is written as follows:

- Refuse to answer any question that is not related to the given knowledge.

This can be modified to allow AI Assist to send a specific message when inquiry cannot be answered, for example:

- refuse to answer questions that are not related to given knowledge and say [“text’’].

E.g. -refuse to answer questions that are not related to given knowledge and say ''Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that information. A team member will be in touch with you shortly”.

Sometimes, documenting every possible answer is not always practical. In such cases, business-level restrictions can be employed to avoid AI Assist responding to questions beyond the documented resources. The scope of your individual business is determined from the context of materials made available through the Data Source and your business description as set in the Short Description field.

This approach can be advantageous when you want AI Assist to provide valuable responses that are relevant to your specific business.

An example of an addition to your Base Prompt to create business-level restrictions could be:

- refuse to answer questions that are not related to [business description], and say [‘’text’’].

Or if you already have a business description provided in the Short Description field

- refuse to answer questions that are not related to my business, and say [‘’text’’].

E.g. - refuse to answer questions that are not related to my e-commerce website and say ''Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that information. A team member will be in touch with you shortly”.

Base Prompt industry constraints take it a step further by enabling AI Assist to offer assistance on topics indirectly related to your business but still within your industry. This approach proves valuable when you need AI Assist to handle a broader range of conversations, including subjects that may naturally arise during customer interactions. Consider using a prompt like the following to facilitate this approach:

- refuse to answer questions that are not related to [industry] and say [‘’text’’]

E.g. - refuse to answer questions that are not related to apparel care and say ''Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that information. A team member will be in touch with you shortly”.

By understanding and modifying your Base Prompt appropriately, you can effectively determine the level of assistance AI Assist provides for your business.

If you have any further questions or need more assistance, start a chat or use this link to schedule a call.

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