Conversational AI Search coming to Discourse AI

Meta Feature
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We're excited to announce a powerful new feature now available for testing on Meta: Discourse AI Search discoveries^[name TBD]. This feature enhances your search experience by providing AI-generated answers to your queries, making information discovery faster and more intuitive.

What's New?

Discourse AI Discover delivers immediate, contextual responses to your searches by leveraging our advanced AI systems. Unlike traditional search that merely returns links, this feature directly answers your questions while still providing relevant resources for deeper exploration.

Technology Behind the Feature

Discourse AI Discover is built on our robust Persona system and includes:

  • Comprehensive RAG Support:

    • Traditional keyword search
    • Semantic search using topic embeddings
    • Google search integration via built-in tools
    • Text file and PDF content search capabilities
    • External/federated search through custom tool support

  • Advanced AI Capabilities:

    • Compatible with fine-tuned search models
    • Customizable system prompts and parameters
    • Adjustable temperature settings
    • Configurable tool utilization

Improved Discoverability

Based on your valuable feedback about our previous AI HyDE search feature, we've integrated this functionality into both quick search and full page search interfaces to ensure you can access these AI-powered answers wherever you search.

Try It Yourself

This feature is currently available for testing here on Meta. If you'd like to implement it on your own Discourse instance, simply:

  1. Create a persona in your admin settings
  2. Set the hidden setting ai_bot_discover_persona to the ID of your created persona

We're committed to continuously enhancing your Discourse experience and welcome your feedback on this new search capability.



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1 small thing. The real-time writing shifts the regular search results down for each newly written line, which made me misclick, or click the wrong result on several occasions especially if I was scrolling at the same time).

It also shifts results up at the very end:



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This is pure cosmetic one, and more bike shedding than real thing, plus it is matter of non-English speakers.

You have now

  • Discourse Discover, a directory/showroom of forums out there
  • Discourse Discovers, a search helper by AI

I reckon I have quite valid prompt, but I’m not totally sure, of course, because I’m far away from a pro. But… how would I put this… earlier I had quite high expectations of AI. Then I realize how little an AI uses and knows about content. It uses like the first hit it find and be really happy with it, without any further actions to find out real contextual and semantic connections.

I claim the issue is topics, where quite often the first post is in fact like part of user promp, because it includes a question and description, and the answer and what a user is looking for is in post 4, 57 or 101.

Sure. I would get better results using something else than OpenAI and using hours and hours work to build real and functional database of content. So I am wanted all raisins fron a bun, but I’m not ready to pay.

Well, all of that is off topic and more ”Is AI a hype or real tool in forums”.

So what I would like to get is normal search result, but in weighted mode: first amount X from AI, then normal results. And ability to dump that offered summary, because it is so often wrong and actually isn’t given real helpful information. If I’m looking for a topic that explains version numbering of Discourse, I don’t want short explanation, but relevant topics. And even now I don’t get it easily.

That is the ongoing real issue.

I like ask.discourse.com. Its miss/success rate is somewhere close to 50 %, but its use is more… productive, because I can explain what I need, and that may help me further. Or I realize quite fast that AI there can’t answer or is ~~lying~~ hallucinating.

I’ll take this down at some point from my forum. Users are asking so general questions, me including, that anykind AI can’t find real hit. And if one takes more conversational approach the seach of Discourse can’t help. But sure, you guys should work with that, and you will and that’s why I don’t totally understand why this is a feature request

What I would like to get? I would like to get ask-option into searches, and more easily way than we have another search options. It is too overwhelming for john and jane doe. I’m using the search, on my instance, only when I know what topic I’m looking for. Otherwise I start rightway an AI-chat, because I know the signal/noise ratio of actual search is not that good.

(Should I use proofreading… yeah, but I don’t bother).



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Jakke Lehtonen:

  • Discourse Discover, a directory/showroom of forums out there
  • Discourse Discovers, a search helper by AI

Also think that AI Discover or Discoveries is confusing, giving there’s Discourse Discover already.

More semantically, I find Discourse Discover a good name that conveys that I can discover new communities.

I struggle with what AI Discoveries are really meant to say on the other hand. It sounds as if the program has some explorer spirit and is out to discover the untold depths of forum content. Or if it’s taking me on a tour of unexpected insights and change of personal perspective. But I’m searching and all I’d want are good search results. Why not just AI results or Natural language search?

In the same vain, I do find the emoji or icon for all things AI a bit hyperbole.

I’m not against the features, but I’d find them much more agreeable and straightforward to use without these anthropomorph touches and magic glitter.



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Jakke Lehtonen:

You have now

  • Discourse Discover, a directory/showroom of forums out there
  • Discourse Discovers, a search helper by AI
Manuel:

Also think that AI Discover or Discoveries is confusing

As noted in the OP that name isn’t final, we are still picking something.

Jakke Lehtonen:

I like ask.discourse.com … because I can explain what I need, and that may help me further.

Jakke Lehtonen:

Users are asking so general questions … takes more conversational approach

Jakke Lehtonen:

What I would like to get? I would like to get ask-option into searches

We are working on both bringing the “ask.discourse.com” UX to the AI Bot flow, and on the ability to “continue the conversation” that was started with a generative search answer.

Both would move us towards what I could understand of your feedback.



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Hello, I like this feature but yeah it feels a little annoying and slow to always wait the AI response. I think it would be better to hide this feature behind a user interaction. For example: click a button like Ask AI or something like this. This lets the user know that they need to wait for a response after clicking. However, if they are not interested in the AI's answer for a particular search, they can easily skip it.



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And maybe continue the conversation?



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Yeah, absolutely. When I first read the commit in GitHub I thought the “Tell me more…” is redirect me to a new message with Ai bot. And I can continue the conversation. I think that’s going to be a great addition.



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One thing I noticed is that when the summary results come up the more selection can be at the very bottom depending on how long the summary is, its easily missable

This is less of an issue when a screen is smaller (like mobile or just a desktop window to the right) so “More…” appears below

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Separate issue but sometimes the search window closes on its own even if I didn’t click anything

To replicate just type anything in and and then take the mouse cursor to the right



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