AI Assistant: Creating, Refining, and Converting Blocks

Blank page problem? Not when you have AI Assistant! You don’t need to start from scratch because you can now easily generate, edit, and convert blocks in seconds. Our human-centered AI block generation process works with you to draft your content, ensuring that you stay in control every step of the way.

Available only in Rise 360, AI Assistant’s block generation, block editing, and quick block conversion features can be accessed in multiple ways. Find them in the AI Assistant menu in the upper right, the block formatting menu on the left when you hover over a block, the shortcuts bar at the bottom, and within the block library.

Are you ready to get started? Here are some tips for using these block generation features to enhance your course creation process.

• Create New Blocks from Scratch
• Refine Existing Blocks
• Convert Existing Blocks to Another Type

Create New Blocks from Scratch

Spend less time putting your thoughts into words—just pick a block to generate. Enter a topic, select reference materials, and let AI Assistant draft the content. Use custom prompts to guide AI Assistant in revising and polishing your draft. When you’re happy with the final copy, click Insert block and see your new block appear. It couldn't be easier!

Use Source Content and Specify a Topic

You can upload source documents in AI settings or when creating a new block and select them as a reference. AI Assistant uses the content in those documents whenever you generate new content. If you don’t have full files to upload, you can copy and paste content from external sources.

The topic you specify guides AI Assistant in narrowing down the content from your source documents. This is especially useful when you have multiple source documents. If you specify a topic that isn't in your selected reference material—existing lessons or source documents—AI Assistant can also generate content using general knowledge.

For best results when specifying a topic, try asking AI Assistant to:

• Focus on a particular subject within the source material. For example, you could say, “Focus on strawberries” when working with a source document about fruit.
• Focus on a specific section. For instance, “Focus on chapter two” ” when working with a source document with multiple chapters.
• Write in a particular order using specific source documents. For example, “Write an overview of all my source docs, write an introduction about fruit, write a conclusion about fruit.”

AI Assistant also generates relevant topic suggestions when you select source documents. These are displayed above the prompt input box as quick-action buttons.

Outline Your Content

When creating a list or interactive block, AI Assistant generates an outline before drafting the content. For a sorting activity block, AI Assistant brainstorms the categories after you choose the topic and select the block type. You can then click one from the list or enter one of your own.

This particular step gives you a bird’s-eye view of the main topics covered in your block, letting you arrange the main content and structure of your block. Focus on big-picture items like what topics to cover, what order the content will appear in, and how content will be separated into different sections of the block.

Polish Your Draft

In the final step of the block generation process, AI Assistant shares a full block draft. Now you get to collaborate with AI Assistant to finalize the copy for your block. You can task AI Assistant with doing just about anything here—changing the tone, target audience, format, or topics. Or, get creative! Try asking AI Assistant to:

• Add scenarios or examples
• Add pros and cons
• Add key takeaways
• Simplify or paraphrase
• Add more or less text
• Bold key terms
• Add emojis
• Add bulleted lists

Note that AI Assistant doesn't support generating media such as images, audio, and video within generated blocks.

While AI Assistant is designed to adhere to your topic and source materials, always check for accuracy. AI can't read your mind! It follows instructions but can struggle with context or knowledge gaps and may generate incorrect information. Before clicking Insert block, double-check the output. And if you’ve already inserted the block but want to make changes, use the write and edit inline or block editing features.

Refine Existing Blocks

In addition to generating new content, AI Assistant makes editing existing content easier than ever with its block editing feature. Use custom prompts to set the tone as more casual or professional, or target a specific audience by simplifying the language or adding technical terms. You can also shorten or lengthen content, or even completely change the topic.

Since editing a block allows you to interact with AI Assistant using custom prompts, experiment and have fun! Remember, though, that AI Assistant rejects malicious requests and automatically blocks offensive content.

After refining your content, choose to replace the original or insert the modified block below it to compare changes.

Convert Existing Blocks to Another Type

Want to see how your content would look in a different block? That used to mean tedious copy-pasting from one block into another. But with AI Assistant’s quick block conversion feature, you can convert an existing block into a different type in a flash. Turn a static list block into an interactive flashcard in just two clicks, or condense interactive blocks into a statement or a paragraph block.

When converting blocks, AI Assistant retains as much of the original content as possible. AI Assistant maps the content between the two block types to retain content and generates new content only when necessary. In the case of blocks with a different structure, such as a paragraph block and a process block, AI Assistant treats the original block as the source to generate content for the new block.

Note that AI Assistant can only generate, edit, and convert content for the following block types:

• Accordion
• Flashcard
• List
• Text
• Process
• Sorting
• Statement
• Tabs

Video Tutorials

Want to learn more before getting started? Check out our video tutorials for additional guidance on using AI Assistant to generate, edit, and convert blocks.

• Generate blocks with AI Assistant
• Edit and convert blocks with AI Assistant

Articulate 360 Training also has additional video tutorials on using other AI Assistant features.

• Use AI Assistant features in Rise 360
• Use AI Assistant features in Storyline 360

You must be logged in to your Articulate 360 account to watch the videos. Don’t have an account yet? Sign up for a free trial now!