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Summary
There are a number of settings available to DeepThought chatbot administrators and users. To adjust settings for an individual chat, select the three dots next to the chat title in the left sidebar. From there, you can access options to customize chats and data sources.
Available features include document creation, such as docx, pdf, txt, csv, html, css, js, py, r, json, xml, php, ics, etc, along with the option to preview or download the document. DeepThought can also create and send emails to multiple recipients on your behalf, while providing a preview of the email for review before sending.
Important considerations
- Data remains secure and protected
- Approved for up to Tier 3 data
- Not HIPAA compliant
- Additional commercial models can be added by contacting RCC Support
How to craft questions for best results
- Type naturally, as you would in a conversation
- Crafting clear and specific prompts helps AI tools like DeepThought deliver more accurate and useful responses.
- Begin with a direct instruction (e.g., “Summarize this report” or “Draft an email to my team about project updates”). When possible, include context or goals, such as “Explain this for a non-technical audience” or “Use a friendly tone.”
- You can also guide formatting by providing instructions like “Create a bulleted list of key takeaways” or “Write a short paragraph for a newsletter.”
- The more focused your prompt, the better the output.
Starting a Quick Chat
When you first open DeepThought, by default it loads a quick chat that will not be saved, with the model set to Claude and the web search enabled. You may select the USNH Questions button to change the conversation context to use only USNH-related information. You may also select the Help and More.. button to change the conversation context to pull from one of the General or USNH-related topics.
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A question entered into the chat field can also be referred to as a user prompt. These prompts are text entered into the chat box that describes the task the chatbot should perform.
Creating a Custom Chat
The Custom Chat feature in DeepThought allows you to design and configure a personalized chatbot experience. By customizing everything from the chatbot's prompt to its language model, creativity level, and data sources, you can create a focused tool that meets your specific goals. Custom chats are saved by default.
Task: To create a new custom chat
Instructions
Step 1 - Click on the Create Custom Chat button.
Step 2 - Provide a chat name.
- Choose a descriptive name (e.g., "Research Project" or "Coding Help")
Step 3 - Custom prompts contain system-level instructions that operate in the background to help define the chatbot’s behavior, tone, and scope before any interaction with a user occurs. Providing clear instructions and limitations helps ensure the chatbot’s responses are accurate and relevant.
- The initial paragraph of the prompt should briefly describe the bot’s role and define its persona and response style.
- An “Instructions” or “Responsibilities” section should provide the bot with basic guidelines and rules, including how the bot should respond to questions outside of any provided data and how to address off-topic questions.
- An optional “Response Guidelines” section can be included to further structure responses, providing additional levels of control. For example, “if/then” scenarios can be provided as well as instructions such as always supplying a specific link when answering questions on a particular topic.
The following is a basic system prompt example for a USNH DeepThought custom website chatbot:
Custom Prompt Example
You are a helpful and knowledgeable university chatbot designed to assist users with questions related to [University Name] and the state of New Hampshire. You are friendly, professional, and clear in your responses.
Your Instructions:
*Identify yourself as a university chatbot in your responses.
*Answer only questions related to: [University Name] (e.g., admissions, academics, campus life, events, policies) or the state of New Hampshire (e.g., local attractions, weather, geography, history).
*Use a friendly, conversational tone that is welcoming and easy to understand.
*Only provide answers when you are confident they are accurate.
*Preface your answers with: "I believe the answer to your question is..."
*When referencing a website or web page, always include a clickable link to the source.
What You Should Not Do:
*Do not answer questions unrelated to the university or the state of New Hampshire.
*Do not speculate or provide uncertain information.
*Do not refer to your training data or documents directly (e.g., avoid saying "The documents say...").
If You Cannot Answer:
*If a user asks a question outside your scope, politely decline and redirect them. For example:
"I'm here to help with questions about [University Name] or the state of New Hampshire. I’m not able to answer that, but I’d be happy to help you find information about our academic programs or campus life. What would you like to know about the university?"
Step 4 - Language Model Selection
- Choose the AI model that fits your task from the drop-down list. By default, Claude is selected.
- Consider the specific requirements of your project, such as whether you need natural language generation, data analysis, image recognition, or another capability.
Step 5 - Temperature Settings
Temperature settings control response creativity. The following should be used as a guide:
- Low (0.2): Precise, factual
- Medium (0.5): Balanced, standard
- High (0.8): Creative, varied
Step 6 - Web Searching Option
By default, web searching is enabled. You may deselect this option if you do not wish to have DeepThought pull live web data.
Step 7 - Import Chat Snapshot
- Include any documents or files that you would like to query
Outcome
You have created a new custom chat.
Managing Chat Settings
Once a chat has been created, you can adjust settings and options for the chat by selecting the three dots next to the Quick Chat you've just created, then selecting Chat Settings.
Chat options
Chat option under the three-dot menu include:
- Chat Settings: Adjust chat Model, Temperature, web searching, and add Custom Prompts if desired.
- Documents and Data: Upload documents as part of the chat context, scrape websites to extract relevant information from, or add shared data sources by clicking on Documents and Data. See "Adding Documents and Data Sources" below for further details
- Copy Chat: Duplicate the entire chat by selecting Copy Chat.
- Clear Chat: Remove the message history by selecting Clear Chat.
- Delete Chat: Permanently remove the chat by selecting Delete Chat.
Upload or drag and drop documents
Select the plus sign in the chat input box to upload or drag and drop documents directly into your chat. This will allow DeepThought to analyze or perform operations on the entire document.
Adding Documents and Data Sources
Adding custom data offers multiple ways to enhance the chat context.
To add documents - upload PDFs, text files, research papers, etc.
- Click on the three dots in the admin panel next to your Quick Chat.
- Select Documents and Data.
- Select Upload Document.
- Select a file from your device.
- The uploaded document will become part of the conversation context
To scrape a website
- Click on the three dots in the admin panel next to your Quick Chat.
- Select Documents and Data.
- Select Scrape Website.
- Enter a website URL.
- DeepThought extracts relevant information from the website.
- Can be scheduled if needed.
To add shared data sources
- Click on the three dots in the admin panel next to your Quick Chat.
- Select Documents and Data.
- Select Add Data Source.
- Browse the pre-loaded databases
- Hover over the grey boxes to select a database
- Scroll and click "Add Data Source"
Additional Administration Tools
Additional settings for the chatbot can be accessed in the main conversation area by clicking the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen. Choosing "settings" in this section allows for appearance customizations including turning on wide mode and applying light or dark mode.
Further Readings
DeepThought: Connecting to VS Code and IDEs
USNH AI Chatbots: Overview
USNH AI Tools: Understanding Data Tiers
Want to Learn More?
Fill out the RCC Support Request form.
Need additional help?
For guidance on this and other related topics, register through Workday to join any of our upcoming Drupal/Sites@USNH/DeepThought/Website Tools - Virtual Walk-in Sessions.
If you have any additional questions, please fill out the Website & Mobile Development Support Form.