Automations and AI · Lesson 3 of 4

Improving your AI agent with feedback and instructions

An AI agent is never finished in one go. In this lesson you see how to turn a wrong answer into a rule, and when you should change your knowledge instead.

7 minAvailable from Pro

This part starts at 1:10 in the video.

What you'll learn

  • Giving feedback on an AI answer
  • Writing an instruction the AI can follow
  • Choosing between instruction and knowledge
  • Reading what the results do and don't say

Step by step

  1. 1

    Read what the AI has answered

    Open a few conversations the AI handled and read them like a customer would. Look at the facts, the tone and whether the customer got to a person in time. Start with what comes up often: one wrong answer to a common question costs you more than a rare exception.

  2. 2

    Give a thumbs down

    Below an AI message in the inbox you'll find two thumbs. Click the thumbs down, labelled Improve answer. A Create instruction window opens with a Category: Answer incorrect, Answer incomplete, Tone improvement, Product recommendation or Other category.

  3. 3

    Write an instruction it can carry out

    Write one rule that says what the AI should do, rather than what went wrong. For a gym, "When asked about cancelling, always refer to our cancellation terms and mention the 48-hour deadline" beats "this was wrong". Then click Create.

  4. 4

    Do the same with AI suggestions

    In the AI Suggestions window every suggestion has a thumb too. On a thumbs down Bugalou asks What was wrong?, and after saving you see Instruction saved. That way your team teaches the agent during normal work.

  5. 5

    Keep your instructions tidy

    Go to AI Agent, open your agent and choose Instructions under Improve. You see all the rules here, including those created from the inbox, and you can edit them, delete them or write your own with Add instruction. Under Platform choose whether a rule applies to all channels or one.

  6. 6

    Test whether it helps

    Open the Playground under Test and ask the question that went wrong. Ask it in other words too, since customers rarely phrase things the same way. Check the answer got better without another answer getting worse.

  7. 7

    Look at the results

    The Analytics page has the card Solved by your AI agent, with Solved by the AI, Handed to your team and Ticket created, plus an estimated time saved. Resolutions goes deeper. Use it to spot trends and keep reading conversations too, because a number doesn't tell you whether the customer was happy.

Common mistakes

Storing facts in an instruction

You'll forget to update a price or opening time in an instruction. Put facts in your knowledge: the agent's Settings, the Knowledge feed or the Product feed. Use an instruction for behaviour and tone.

Rules that contradict each other

"Always answer briefly" and "Always explain all the terms" can't both hold. Clean up the Instructions list regularly and delete rules that no longer apply.

Rules that are too broad after one error

A rule like "Always forward complaints" can do much more than you meant. Describe the situation as precisely as you can and test other questions afterwards.

Steering only on the resolution rate

A high number isn't a goal in itself. A customer who gives up without getting help isn't a good result. Use Forward to decide when a person has to take over.

Tips

  • Plan fifteen minutes each week to read ten AI conversations and improve one or two things.
  • Give a thumbs up too, so your team knows which answers are good.
  • Agree who may create instructions, so the list keeps one style.

You're done when

  • You've created an instruction from a real conversation
  • The old question now gets a better answer in the Playground
  • Your facts are in your knowledge, not in instructions
  • You've looked at the Solved by your AI agent card

Frequently asked questions

How quickly does the AI use a new instruction?

Instructions are used automatically in the AI answers, so test it right away in the Playground with the same question.

What's the difference between an instruction and knowledge?

Knowledge says what's true, like your return period or product range. An instruction says how the agent behaves, like when it refers people on or what tone it uses.

How many conversations does the AI solve by itself?

That differs per business and depends on your knowledge and your questions, so there's no fixed number. Analytics shows what it is for you.

Which plan do I need?

The AI agent, AI suggestions and instructions are part of Pro and Enterprise.