Can the AI read files customers send?
Yes, for PDFs, Word files, text files and CSV files. The AI reads the words in the file a moment after it arrives and can use them to answer that customer. It never follows instructions written inside a file.
When a customer sends a file in a conversation, for example a transcript, a quote request or a list, the AI can read the words in it and use them in its answers to that customer. There is nothing to switch on.
Which files it reads
- PDF files that contain real text, such as ones saved from Word or Google Docs.
- Word files (.docx).
- Plain text (.txt) and CSV files.
It reads files sent by web chat, text message and WhatsApp. Files sent by email are not stored, so the AI cannot read those.
What happens when a file arrives
- The customer sends the file. It is saved in the conversation as always.
- A moment later the words in it are read in the background.
- From then on, each time the AI answers in that conversation, it can use those words. If the customer asks about the file, the AI can talk about what it says.
If the customer sends only a file, the AI may answer before the reading is done. It then says it got the file but cannot see what is in it yet. Once the customer writes again, the AI can use the file.
Files it cannot read
- A scanned page or a photo of a document has no words to read. The AI is told it could not read that file, so it can ask the customer to type the details.
- Older Word files (.doc), spreadsheets and images are not read.
- Files over 10 MB are not read.
- If your account checks files for viruses, a file is read only after it has passed that check. A file that fails it is never read.
The AI uses the three newest files in a conversation, and a long file is cut short, so it may not see every page of a very long document.
The AI never takes orders from a file
The words in a file are treated as the customer's own material, never as instructions. If a file says something like "ignore your rules", the AI does not do it. Your rules, your hand-offs and what the AI is allowed to do stay exactly as you set them.
Good to know
- The AI only uses files from the conversation it is answering. A file sent in one conversation is not used in another.
- Files your team sends, and files on private notes, are never read by the AI.
- If you delete a file's message, the text read from it goes too.
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More in Teaching the AI
The other guides people read alongside this one.
- What is my knowledge base, and why does the AI need it?
Your knowledge base is your own business information, services, prices, hours and policies, that teaches your AI assistant how to answer your customers. It is not our help articles.
- How do I add something to my knowledge base by hand?
Write an entry directly, or paste text and let AI turn it into organized entries for you to review before saving.
- How do I bring in everything from my website?
Peakify reads your public pages and turns them into knowledge base entries automatically, and checks your site again once a week on its own.
- How do I upload a document to my knowledge base?
Drop in a PDF, Word doc, text or markdown file, up to five at a time, and review the entries before they save.
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