UPCOMING WEBINAR: From Thousands of Tables To One Clear Story: using AI in survey analysis In addition to the Research Agent and Data Preparation Agent, Displayr has an AI-based chat . This allows you to have a conversation with Displayr to help you quickly clean and tidy your data and build, analyze, visualize, and share your report in minutes! It doesn't matter where you are in your research career or experience with Displayr. We've built an AI tool that can help you.
Note: This feature is currently in the Beta phase. Contact support@displayr.com with any questions or feedback.
This article is broken into the following sections:
Requirements
- Displayr AI needs to be enabled. See Opting In and Out of Displayr AI.
- A data set. See a list of file formats supported by Displayr here.
Chat Panel interface
The Chat panel has a number of features that allow you to perform actions, provide feedback, and understand the inputs that Chat can use when asking it questions.
Action buttons
You'll see a few buttons in Chat, including Add data when you start a new document and happy path options. With one click of these buttons, Chat will perform actions for you, including tidying your data, generating an entire report, creating tables and crosstabs, and publishing to an online dashboard.
Feedback buttons
Chat shows thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons, which you can click to provide feedback after each request.
When you click on the thumbs-up, positive feedback is sent to us about Chat's actions. If Chat didn't do a good job, click the thumbs-down button. You can then provide feedback about what Chat could have done better. This feedback is sent to our team so that we can continue to improve the user experience and Chat's performance.
Skills
You have the ability to run Skills or create new Skills for you and your team to use. This is a powerful addition to Displayr and allows you to create a set of instructions for AI that you can save and reuse, and that AI can find and use when answering your queries in Chat. See Skills and Advanced Skills for more information about how to use Skills.
Chat context
Chat will use the item(s) you have selected to be sent as context with your prompt. This includes data sets, pages, variables, and single outputs in the Report tree, and outputs on pages. For example, if the "Age" variable is selected, the Chat context will show that it's selected and will be used as context for the next prompt or request.
If a parent-level page or multiple pages are selected, you will see a count of how many sub-pages or stand-alone pages are selected, and all of those pages will be used as context.
The same goes for variables and outputs - if you select multiple, the context will show how many are selected. If you hover over the context tile, more information about what's selected will appear:
If you have the data set selected, then all of the variables within the data set will be used as context for the Chat.
If you deselect the context tile, that item will no longer be used as context for the Chat. You will know that the item is not being used as context because you will see an icon that is an eye with a strikethrough line . You can click the context tile again to re-enable the item to be used as context; otherwise, once you select another item, the context tile will reset, and that selection will be used in the next prompt.
Note: Chat will evaluate whether the selected context is relevant to the question or prompt that's entered. If it's not relevant, then Displayr will proceed to look at the rest of your data and outputs and do its best to provide the requested output or information. For example, if I have the age table selected as the Chat context, but I ask for a summary of the most popular cola brand for females, Chat will ignore the age table context and instead use the relevant variables or outputs to build the response instead.
Confirmation of changes
Chat will show a confirmation of the changes that it makes with each prompt. This allows you to see exactly what it's doing in your document. For example, I gave Chat the following prompt:
Create summary tables for my demographic variables. Place them on "New page" and rename that page to "Demographics".
Chat performed the actions for me in my document and also confirmed the changes:
The confirmation of changes is presented as a summary initially, but you can click on the arrow to the left of the change summary to expand the tile and see what has been actioned. If you click on one of the items in the list of changes, you will be taken directly to it in the document.
If you ask Chat to delete or remove something, you will see red text in the confirmation of changes indicating that something has been deleted. It will also appear in the list of changes with a strikethrough line:
The "Happy Path"
In Edit mode, Chat makes suggestions throughout the conversation about next steps, which we call the "happy path". For example:
Following these prompts and suggestions, when they are available, will help you create useful analyses.
If you are a novice researcher, a "happy path" guides you in the right direction and helps you to keep going in that direction. If you are a new or experienced Displayr user, you'll be guided down a “happy path” to quickly complete analysis and reporting, freeing up your time to add value.
For example, if you are looking for the quickest way to get from adding your data to publishing your report, your happy path would look like:
- Open a new Displayr document.
- Add data.
- Write report using Research Agent.
- Move uninteresting pages to appendix.
- Publish as dashboard.
Using Chat
Using Chat to perform actions
The Chat agent can perform steps for you directly in your document. You can use one of the suggested actions that are part of the "happy path", or you can ask it to do something for you, such as create a table, filter it, and turn it into a visualization. There are many things that Chat is capable of doing, and its capabilities increase on a regular basis.
If you ask Chat to do something that it cannot yet do, it will give you steps to achieve the request instead. If there's something that you wish Chat could do and it can't, please reach out to support@displayr.com with your idea, and we'll pass it along to our AI Team.
Ask Chat to apply templates
You can ask Chat to apply templates that are stored in the Displayr Cloud Drive. Don't forget to include the Cloud Drive path and file extension when specifying which item you want Chat to run. For example, I have the "RainbowColumn" visualization template saved to the "Displayr Help/AI" path in the Displayr Cloud Drive, so I asked Chat to:
Apply Displayr Help/AI/RainbowColumn.viz.QTemplate to the selected table.
It transformed the selected table that was in the chat context into a column visualization and applied the specified template:
Running menu items
If you'd like to run an item found in the menus in Displayr, you can ask Chat to do so by providing the menu path (minus the initial +). For example, if you want to add a new variable set showing top 2 boxes, you can say:
Run Convert to > Binary - Multi > Top 2 Categories on the selected variable sets.
Using Chat for "how to" guidance
If you prefer to use chat to ask how to do things within Displayr, we have you covered. Similar to using other AI tools, like ChatGPT or Claude, you can type your question in the Ask anything... prompt after you've entered your objectives and population description. Even if you are following the "happy path", you can ask questions in between steps.
For example, if I ask the Chat agent how to create a banner, it will give me the steps as well as a link to our Help documentation that goes in-depth about the process and details.
See the Best Practices section for tips on how to work with the Chat agent in conversation and prompting.
Report Chat
In addition to using Chat while creating and editing your document, you can enable Report Chat in view mode (i.e., your published dashboards). This allows the viewers to ask questions about the document and gain insights. See How to Publish a Document as a Web Page (Dashboard) for information about how to enable this feature.
Best Practices
As with any AI conversational tool, like ChatGPT or Claude, it's important to keep some things in mind.
Prompts
You need to be specific and clear when asking questions/prompting. If Chat doesn't give you the right or best answer the first time, try refining your prompt. Provide as much information as you can about the request and what you want. We have an article to help you with prompts when working with AI: Getting Started with AI Prompting in Displayr.
Use the suggested action buttons
As mentioned above, the suggested actions, or "happy path", are there to help you quickly build your analyses and report. When it's available, click the action button rather than typing in a new question. This will save you from having to go through the steps manually.
Check your data and outputs
If you've used other AI conversational tools, you'll know that Chat may hallucinate or provide incorrect information. It's important to always check results before making conclusions or sharing with your clients.
See Limitations for more information about what Chat may not be able to do.
The Chat panel
Initially, Chat will appear in the middle of your screen, but once you start creating pages, the chat panel will move to the right of the page. You can make the chat panel smaller by "grabbing" the left edge with your mouse and dragging the panel to the right. You can close it by clicking the Chat icon or X in the upper right corner.
If you want to reset the conversation, i.e., restart, click the icon in the upper right corner of the chat panel.
To contact Support at any point, click the icon on the toolbar. This will ensure that the Support Team gets relevant information about your document and chat, and can get to helping you.
If you want to cancel a request, click the Stop button to the right of the prompt field. If you are running a process that's part of the "happy path" and you want to cancel, click the Cancel button that appears in the pop-up dialog.
Additional Notes
Limitations
- Your conversation is reset each time your browser/project reloads or you close or navigate away from your Displayr document. Your conversation is not saved.
- If your question is not about data analysis or how Displayr works, Chat agent will not be able to provide an answer. The agent cannot search for information on the Internet.
- Chat cannot see any chat history or prior prompts, including the question immediately prior, so treat each question or prompt like you are starting from scratch.
- Multiple users cannot be part of the same chat at the same time. While you can have multiple users in a document at a time, you will not be able to see their chats and vice versa.
- You cannot paste images into the chat. If you paste data into the chat, the agent will not be able to take any specific actions on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it labeled as Beta?
We're still ironing out some kinks and looking for feedback. Contact support@displayr.com with feedback and questions.
Can I modify the report?
Yes. Every aspect can be edited/modified.
Can I control the defaults for charts and text?
Yes. Text defaults and default color settings are controlled via the page master.
Otherwise, there are 10 alternative ways of displaying the data, based on the properties of the data. The 10 defaults are shown below. To change any of these, create a visualization as per your requirements and save it as a template, giving it the names as shown below (e.g., to replace the pie chart with something else, create a visualization and save it as Chat Template Six or Fewer Mutually Exclusive Categories).
Does Chat support languages other than English?
Yes, Chat supports languages other than English, both in terms of being able to read the data/outputs and understand your question or prompt.
Where is Properties?
Properties might be collapsed. Click the Properties icon in the toolbar or from the floating toolbar to open the panel. You can expand it by grabbing the left edge with your mouse and dragging to the left.
Can I turn off Chat?
Yes, by opting out of Displayr AI.
I have questions about where my data is stored and if it's used for training.
See Frequently Asked Questions About Using AI in Displayr for information about data processing and AI in Displayr.
I'm getting an error.
See some common Displayr AI errors and what to do when you see them here. If you are getting a different error, please click the button in the toolbar to contact the Support Team.
Can I have multiple data sets in my project?
Yes, however, remember that Chat will use chat context to determine inputs to use when it's creating outputs. Make sure that you have the appropriate data set or item selected when you are asking about a specific data set in your project, if you have multiple data sets.
Do I need to enter objectives and a population definition each time I start a conversation with chat?
No. Where the Chat needs to have the background and research objectives, you will be prompted to enter your objectives and a population definition, including when using the Research Agent.
Can I delete my Chat history?
No. Keep in mind that your chat is cleared whenever your browser/document refreshes, or you close the document.
Can I use summary tables with Chat?
Summary tables, such as tables from Excel, as a data source, are not currently supported by Chat.
Can people viewing my published dashboard use AI to ask questions about the data?
Yes, you can enable Report Chat in View mode (aka your published dashboard), meaning that people who view your published dashboards can ask questions about the document and get insights. See How to Publish a Document as a Web Page (Dashboard) for more information.
Does Chat use AI tokens?
Yes. When you purchase a Displayr license, your license covers the typical AI usage of a user for the 12-month license period. The AI package of a Displayr trial is 1.25% of the AI Package that comes with a full license. You can check your AI usage here. Chat consumes tokens in both Edit and View modes. Tokens consumed in View mode count against the report owner's company account.
Will tokens be consumed in View mode at the same rate as in Edit mode when using Report Chat/Chat?
Yes, tokens used in a published dashboard (aka View mode) via Report Chat are consumed at the same rate or quantity as in Edit mode.
Are additional AI tokens allocated for Report Chat in View mode when I purchase a license?
No, the AI tokens are pooled together and count when using Chat in Edit or View mode.
Can I purchase additional AI tokens for Report Chat in View mode?
Since AI tokens are pooled between Edit and View modes, you can purchase additional AI tokens at the same cost, regardless of where they are being used. Contact Support to purchase an increased AI allowance.
Next
Getting Started with AI Prompting in Displayr
Get Started Using AI in Displayr
Opting In and Out of Displayr AI
Frequently Asked Questions About Using AI in Displayr
Tracking Your Displayr AI Usage
How to Automatically Check and Prepare Your Data with Data Preparation Agent