What is an AI assistant?
An AI assistant is an AI tool that answers questions and helps with text in a dialogue with the user.
You type or say what you need, and the assistant answers. It can explain, summarise, write drafts and answer follow-up questions in the same conversation.
The difference between assistants lies mostly in what they can access. A public AI service answers from general knowledge. An internal assistant can answer from the organisation's own documents and show where the answer comes from.
A new employee can ask an internal assistant about anything from the wellness allowance to how a case is closed. The answer comes straight away and builds on what applies at your organisation.
How it works
Behind the assistant there is usually a language model, an instruction about how it should behave, and connections to the material it may use. The conversation is kept together while it lasts, so follow-up questions are understood in context. How long conversations are kept afterwards, and who can see them, is up to the service.
Why it matters
An assistant makes knowledge easier to reach. Anyone who needs an answer no longer has to dig through folders or wait for a colleague. When the answers come from the organisation's own documents, the answer is also the same whoever asks.
What to keep in mind
An assistant is only as good as what it reads. Outdated procedures give outdated answers. Decide who owns the content, and follow up on questions that get no answer. They show where the documentation falls short.
Think about access control as well, so the assistant only answers from what each user is allowed to see.
What it means for you
Ask where the data is processed and which documents the assistant answers from. That decides whether it fits your work.
Common questions
How is an internal AI assistant different from public AI services?
An internal assistant answers from your own documents and respects your permissions. Public AI services answer from general knowledge and know nothing about your organisation.
Can an assistant give wrong answers?
Yes. That is why answers should show which documents they are based on, so the reader can check. That is what a source citation does.
Which documents should the assistant be allowed to read?
Start with what people ask about most, such as procedures and handbooks. Let the owner of the content decide which knowledge bases the assistant may use.
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