Conversational action

As explained in Effective Conversational AI

A conversational action is a configured operation that starts under specified conversational conditions and performs a response or subsequent interaction step.

A conversational action is a configured operation that starts when specified user utterances are recognized and then performs a response or another interaction step. The simplest form detects an intent and returns an answer. section 2.1.2

Cake Shop question answering

For a store-hours action, configure utterances such as “Store hours” and “When are you open?”, connect them to an intent, and return “We are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.” Add more examples to improve recognition, then test variations and unfamiliar questions. section 2.1.2

Figure 2.2 Question-answering bots map user utterances to intents, which map to answers.

Trace the basic mapping from user utterances to intents and from intents to answers. section 2.1.2

How Effective Conversational AI covers it

How deep it goes

Explains triggers, intent detection, responses, and next steps, but stops short of implementation code.

Examples

Uses Cake Shop background, store-hours, cake-options, cost, and Cake Club questions with sample utterances and answers.

What it assumes

Assumes familiarity with user questions and answers while teaching intent triggers and response configuration from the beginning.

What you can do after

Operate a basic question-answering action by configuring utterances, an intent, a response, and recognition tests.

How it connects

Connects user utterances with intents, responses, conditional logic, and subsequent interaction steps.

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Related concepts

• question-answering actionincludes · A question-answering action is a conversational action that detects an intent and provides an answer.
• actionkind of · An action is a choice or operation selected or performed by an actor that can affect a system or environment or produce an outcome.
• actionkind of · An action is a lowest-level narrative-code unit representing a small, individual operation or event.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Effective Conversational AI. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.