Customizing the identity, tone of voice, and pronoun formality for an AI agent

For each AI agent you create, you can define its individual identity, tone of voice, and pronoun formality:


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For each AI agent you create, you can define its individual identity, tone of voice, and
pronoun formality:


Identity refers to how an AI agent presents itself to your users. For
example, does it interact with your users as a friendly peer, or more like a
professional guide?

Tone of voice refers to the type of language the AI agent uses when
responding to users. For example, does it elaborate in its answers to users, or keep
its responses short and to the point?

Pronoun formality refers to whether your AI agent uses formal or informal
pronouns when talking to a user. This applies only in languages that distinguish
between formal and informal pronouns, such as German.



Note: Before you get started, see Building an AI agent persona and tone of voice for
guidance on creating an AI agent that gives your users the best experience with your
brand.
This article contains the following topics:

Customizing an AI agent's identity
Customizing an AI agent's tone of voice
Customizing an AI agent's pronoun formality

Related articles:

Best practices for using instructions and custom
tone of voice to influence AI agent responses

Using instructions to influence AI agent
responses




Customizing an AI agent's identity

You can customize an AI agent's identity to control how it presents itself to your
users.
To customize an AI agent’s identity


In the AI agents workspace, select the AI agent you want to work
with.
Click
Content in the sidebar, then select Identity.
In AI agent name, enter the same name that you used when you created
the AI agent. This name is shown to your users in the widget.

In Company name, enter the name of your company. This is how the AI
agent knows what company it works for, if a user asks it.

In Business profile, enter one or two short, factual sentences in
English that describe what your company does. This information gives the
AI agent context so that it can give the most appropriate responses.
Keep this description focused on simple text about your company's
business domain, rather than marketing-focused material that could
potentially influence your AI agent's behavior.
Note: Make sure not to add instructions for the AI
agent to the business profile, which might lead to unexpected
errors.



(Voice AI agents only) Under
Voice settings, select a voice for each supported language.
For more information, see Configuring multi-language support
for voice AI agents.

Click Test to open a test window on the right, where you can get an
idea of how these options affect the AI agent’s responses before proceeding.
Click Save.





Customizing an AI agent's tone of voice

You can customize an AI agent's tone of voice to control the AI agent’s style of
communication.
To customize an AI agent's tone of voice


In the AI agents workspace, select the AI agent you want to work
with.
Click
Content in the sidebar, then select Tone of voice.
Select a tone:

Professional: (Default) A patient and informative tone.

Informal: A casual and friendly tone.

Enthusiastic: An enthusiastic and conversational tone.

Custom: A custom tone created from scratch or an edited
version of one of the tones above. If you select this option,
write a short Tone description that tells the AI agent
how to speak to users. For example, “You maintain a polite,
approachable, and conversational tone throughout the
conversation.”



In Answer length, select one of the following options to configure
the approximate length of each of the AI agent’s responses when it consults
a knowledge source:







For messaging AI agents
For email AI agents




Short (30–60 words)
Medium (60–90 words)
Long (90–120 words)
Very Long (120–150 words)




Short (150 words)
Medium (300 words)
Long (600 words)
Very Long (Unlimited word count)





These lengths are approximations only, not hard limits. Depending
on the question a customer asks, the AI agent may need
flexibility on the answer length in order to avoid leaving out
important details or hallucinating additional information.

Note: These options affect only responses
where the AI agent consulted a knowledge source. The appropriate
lengths of conversational responses are left up to the AI agent.




Click Test to open a test window on the right, where you can get an
idea of how these options affect the AI agent’s responses before proceeding.
Click Save.





Customizing an AI agent's pronoun formality

You can customize an AI agent's pronoun formality to control whether your AI agent
uses formal or informal pronouns when talking to a user.
To customize an AI agent's pronoun formality


In the AI agents workspace, select the AI agent you want to work
with.
Click
Content in the sidebar, then select Pronoun formality.
For each supported language you’ve added,
select either of the following options:

Use formal pronouns: Selected by default. AI agents use
formal pronouns, conveying respect, when communicating with users in
the specified language.

Use informal pronouns: AI agents use informal pronouns,
conveying familiarity, when communicating with users in the
specified language. For languages that don’t distinguish between
formal and informal pronouns (for example, English), neither
option is selectable.




Click Test to open a test window on the right, where you can get an
idea of how these options affect the AI agent’s responses before proceeding.
Click Save.




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