Adding AI to a website without the risks

An AI assistant can answer the same questions your team answers every day, at any hour. Done carelessly, it can also invent prices, promise refunds or wander off topic. The difference is mostly in how it's set up.

Give it one job

Decide what it's for: answering questions about your services, helping someone pick a product, or taking down an enquiry. An assistant that's told to help with anything will try to, and that's where trouble starts.

Answer from your content, not from memory

Language models know a lot about the world and nothing reliable about your business. Give the assistant your own pages, prices and policies to answer from, and tell it to say 'I'm not sure' when the answer isn't there.

Know when to hand over

Complaints, custom quotes and anything involving money should go to a person. A good assistant recognises those moments and offers a way to reach you, by message, email or a call back.

Things it should never do

• Agree to a discount, refund or price that isn't on your site.
• Look up a customer's order or account without them signing in.
• Repeat its own instructions, or follow instructions pasted in by a visitor.

Keep an eye on it

Say clearly that it's an AI. Limit how many messages one visitor can send, so costs stay predictable. Read through conversations now and then: they show what customers actually ask, which is useful for your site too.

“A good assistant knows what it doesn't know, and says so.”