How to build AI Customer Service Chatbot (Complete Tutorial)

Introduction

In this detailed tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a knowledge-based AI agent from scratch without the need for coding. This AI chatbot can be utilized for various purposes such as training your team, assisting customers, generating new leads, or conducting research. Moreover, you can train the AI agent on your company-specific data to ensure that it provides relevant responses rather than generic ones. By the end of this tutorial, you'll also know how to deploy the AI agent on your website, making it readily available for users.

Introduction

My name is Sandip Kista, and I own an AI development and automation agency called Flip Bites. We help businesses of all sizes leverage AI and automation to streamline processes, cut costs, and ultimately boost profits. In this tutorial, we’ll focus on building an AI chatbot for a fictional law firm called Justice IP, which specializes in intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents.

Justice IP has identified that 70% of its clients send inquiries about the same basic questions—such as what a trademark is, the benefits of having one, and how to check if their company name is available. Answering these repeated questions consumes valuable time, prompting Justice IP to seek a resource optimization solution.

Objective

We will construct an AI agent that can:

Answer user questions using Justice IP's proprietary knowledge base.
Share support email addresses when the AI cannot provide an answer.
Connect with the USPTO database to check if a name is available for trademark registration.

Steps to Build the AI Agent

Step 1: Upload Knowledge Base

We will use a platform called Voiceflow, renowned for assisting organizations like Amazon and JP Morgan in creating their AI agents. Voiceflow offers a free sandbox plan, making it easy for you to follow along. Additionally, I recommend that the documents used for your knowledge base be comprehensive and well-structured for effective training.

Once logged into Voiceflow, navigate to the Source section to upload your knowledge base documents, which in our case will consist of two PDFs.

Step 2: Develop the AI Agent

In the designer section of Voiceflow, create an AI assistant named Justice IP. We will program the agent to greet users and capture input through a conversational flow. Using text elements, we can construct variations of greetings to avoid repetitiveness.

Next, we will implement AI Responses to address users’ queries. The instructions for the AI will be framed as a prompt, specifying that it should act as an assistant specializing in trademark law, referencing the knowledge base and avoiding externally sourced information.

The designed flow will include key variables to store user inputs and facilitate loops for continuous interaction until the user is satisfied.

Step 3: Connect to the USPTO Database

We will introduce an API connection that allows users to verify trademark availability. The API we will use can be found on RapidAPI, where you can create an account for free to test the functionality.

The connection will be coded to send requests to the USPTO database, and the received data will be parsed to provide human-readable responses to users about trademark availability. A fail-safe text response will also be included in case the API connection fails.

Step 4: Deploy the AI Agent

Once the chatbot design is complete, we can publish it directly from Voiceflow. Customization options allow us to modify appearance settings to fit our dummy website, where we will embed the chatbot.

To deploy, we’ll add the provided JavaScript code into the body section of our website. After saving changes, users will be able to interact with the chatbot seamlessly.

Conclusion

Now you have a working AI customer service chatbot that can efficiently answer Justice IP’s client questions, thus saving time, resources, and money. Feel free to use this guide to build your own AI agent, or contact my agency, Flip Bites, if you need professional assistance.

Keywords

AI chatbot
Knowledge-based AI
Customer service
USPTO database
Trademark availability
Voiceflow
Automation
Justice IP

FAQ

Q: What tools do I need to build an AI customer service chatbot?
A: You'll need a platform like Voiceflow to build and deploy the chatbot. This platform allows you to create a knowledge base and integrate APIs without coding.

Q: How can I ensure the AI provides relevant answers?
A: By training the AI on your company's specific data and documents, the AI can provide tailored responses to user inquiries.

Q: Can this AI agent be used for sectors outside law?
A: Yes, the principles and steps in this tutorial can be adapted to other industries by altering the knowledge base and prompts as needed.

Q: What if my AI agent cannot answer a user’s question?
A: The chatbot can be programmed to share a support email address for users to reach out for more assistance.

Q: How do I test the AI agent before deploying it?
A: Voiceflow allows you to test the chatbot within the platform, enabling you to refine interaction flows and responses before going live.