Your first custom AI assistant, trained on what you know.
A blank chatbot knows nothing about your business. This lesson turns one into a configured expert — with your instructions and your knowledge — that answers the way you'd want. You'll pick a job, write the instructions that shape it, hand it a knowledge file, and finish with a working assistant. No code.
The mental model
A custom assistant = a capable base AI + your instructions + your knowledge. A configured expert, not a blank chat.
Out of the box, AI is a brilliant generalist that knows nothing about your business. You turn it into a specialist two ways: instructions (who it is and how it behaves) and knowledge (the documents it can draw on). Get those right and you have an assistant that answers like someone who actually works there.
Step 01 · Write its instructions
Start narrow — strong first assistants do one clear thing (an onboarding helper, a support-draft writer, a brand-voice writer). Four sections turn a chat into an assistant. Pick one option per row and watch the setup prompt build:
Step 02 · Stop it inventing answers
If the knowledge is thin, the assistant fills gaps by inventing — confidently. The fix is in the instruction. Ask it something its docs don't cover and watch a well-instructed assistant behave:
You ask: "What's your refund policy for international orders?" — but that's not in its docs.
That's the win. Test by asking something you know isn't covered and confirm it admits the gap.
Your challenge: build one expert assistant
- Choose one clear job for the assistant.
- Write the four instruction sections (role, job, tone, escalation).
- Upload one knowledge file it should answer from.
- Test with real questions, including one it shouldn't know — confirm it admits the gap.
Lesson complete
You can explain how instructions + knowledge make an assistant, pick a focused first job, write role/job/tone/escalation, give it a knowledge file, and stop it inventing answers.
Lesson 2 · A real company brain — your docs, tone & guardrails