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

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">For each AI agent you create, you can define its individual identity, tone of voice, and pronoun formality:</p>
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<p class="p">For each AI agent you create, you can define its individual identity, tone of voice, and
pronoun formality: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="persona_tone_of_voice__ul_l1w_smf_52c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Identity</strong> 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? </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Tone of voice</strong> 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?</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Pronoun formality</strong> 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.</li>
</ul>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="persona_tone_of_voice__note_jh4_24f_52c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Before you get started, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357758777626" target="_blank">Building an AI agent persona and tone of voice</a> for
guidance on creating an AI agent that gives your users the best experience with your
brand.</div>
This article contains the following topics:</div>
<ul class="ul" id="persona_tone_of_voice__ul_im1_snf_52c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_hps_snf_52c">Customizing an AI agent's identity</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_kzp_tnf_52c">Customizing an AI agent's tone of voice</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qt2_5nf_52c">Customizing an AI agent's pronoun formality</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Related articles: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="persona_tone_of_voice__ul_kjh_fnf_52c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8719119396506" target="_blank">Best practices for using instructions and custom
tone of voice to influence AI agent responses</a></li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749291290" target="_blank">Using instructions to influence AI agent
responses</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_hps_snf_52c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Customizing an AI agent's identity</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can customize an AI agent's identity to control how it presents itself to your
users.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To customize an AI agent’s identity</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_hps_snf_52c__image_zqn_pxf_y3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Identity</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">AI agent name</strong>, enter the same name that you used when you created
the AI agent.<p class="p">This name is shown to your users in the widget.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Company name</strong>, enter the name of your company.<p class="p">This is how the AI
agent knows what company it works for, if a user asks it. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Business profile</strong>, enter one or two short, factual sentences in
English that describe what your company does.<div class="p">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.<div class="note" id="topic_hps_snf_52c__note_qwc_fpf_52c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Make sure not to add <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749291290" target="_blank">instructions</a> for the AI
agent to the business profile, which might lead to unexpected
errors.</div>
</div>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_hps_snf_52c__image_edd_d14_3hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_personalization_identity_tab.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">(<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10169333291290" target="_blank">Voice AI agents</a> only) Under
<strong class="ph b">Voice settings</strong>, select a voice for each supported language.
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10588277182618#topic_fsn_kbg_kjc" target="_blank">Configuring multi-language support
for voice AI agents</a>.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test</strong> 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. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>. </li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Customizing an AI agent's tone of voice</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can customize an AI agent's tone of voice to control the AI agent’s style of
communication.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To customize an AI agent's tone of voice</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__image_rrp_pxf_y3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tone of voice</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Select a tone:<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__ol_cgl_spf_52c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Professional</strong>: (Default) A patient and informative tone. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Informal</strong>: A casual and friendly tone. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Enthusiastic</strong>: An enthusiastic and conversational tone. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Custom</strong>: A custom tone created from scratch or an edited
version of one of the tones above.<p class="p">If you select this option,
write a short <strong class="ph b">Tone description</strong> that tells the AI agent
how to speak to users. For example, “You maintain a polite,
approachable, and conversational tone throughout the
conversation.”</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Answer length</strong>, select one of the following options to configure
the approximate length of each of the AI agent’s responses when it consults
a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749301658" target="_blank">knowledge source</a>: <div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__note_zx5_2dz_hkc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> This setting is not available for email AI
agents with agentic AI.</div>
</div>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__ol_xpl_xpf_52c">
<li class="li">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="simpletable" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__simpletable_yx2_drb_4fc" summary="">
<col style="width:50%">
<col style="width:50%">
<thead></thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" style="vertical-align:top;">For messaging AI agents</td>
<td class="stentry" style="vertical-align:top;">For email AI agents</td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" style="vertical-align:top;">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__ul_svv_2rb_4fc">
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Short (30–60 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Medium (60–90 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Long (90–120 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Very Long (120–150 words)</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
<td class="stentry" style="vertical-align:top;">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__ul_mzc_hrb_4fc">
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Short (150 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Medium (300 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Long (600 words)</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Very Long (Unlimited word count)</strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="p">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.</p>
<div class="note" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__note_k2g_ym4_52c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> 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. </div>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_kzp_tnf_52c__image_rpt_l14_3hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_personalization_tone_of_voice_tab.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test</strong> 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. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qt2_5nf_52c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Customizing an AI agent's pronoun formality</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">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.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To customize an AI agent's pronoun formality</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_qt2_5nf_52c__ol_qq2_fqf_52c">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_qt2_5nf_52c__image_a4s_pxf_y3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Pronoun formality</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">For each <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749666714#topic_rmc_kzx_jgc" target="_blank">supported language you’ve added</a>,
select either of the following options: <ul class="ul" id="topic_qt2_5nf_52c__ol_dwn_4qf_52c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Use formal pronouns</strong>: Selected by default. AI agents use
formal pronouns, conveying respect, when communicating with users in
the specified language. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Use informal pronouns</strong>: AI agents use informal pronouns,
conveying familiarity, when communicating with users in the
specified language.<p class="p">For languages that don’t distinguish between
formal and informal pronouns (for example, English), neither
option is selectable. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_qt2_5nf_52c__image_unt_w14_3hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_personalization_pronoun_formality_tab.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test</strong> 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. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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