Appian AI Copilot

Introducing Appian AI Copilot

Appian AI Copilot combines the power of low-code with the productivity-boosting efficiency of generative AI, allowing you to create functional interfaces faster than ever before.

Collaborating with AI Copilot puts you in control. Use AI Copilot to generate an initial interface from the fields in your form. Then take over, applying your own unique touch and verifying the accuracy of the content that was generated.

This page walks you through how to use AI copilot to jump start your development with our first AI Copilot capability—quickly generating an elegant interface by simply uploading a PDF.

Enabling AI Copilot

Appian fits within your enterprise ecosystem, seamlessly integrating with many of the services you're already using, such as Azure OpenAI Service.

If you have a license for Azure OpenAI Service, you can use it to enable AI Copilot. Simply provide your Azure OpenAI Service credentials in the Admin Console to enable AI Copilot. After credentials are provided, AI Copilot capabilities will display in your environment.

Generating an interface from a PDF

AI Copilot allows you to harness the power of generative AI to help you quickly build interfaces that provide a beautiful and effortless experience for your users. You can use AI Copilot to generate an interface directly from a PDF in just a few clicks.

Generating a beautiful form that users will love is as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Upload a supported PDF.
2. Click "Yes" if you want AI Copilot to generate instructions based on the content of your form, or "No" if you only need the form fields.
3. Sit back, relax, and watch AI Copilot generate fields for your form and automatically map them to a rule input.

After the form is generated, you can take over. Verify that the generated content is correct and appropriate, then personalize it using our intuitive, low-code design tools.

FAQ for generating an interface from PDF

What types of PDFs are supported?

For the best results, the PDFs you upload should be forms that users can input text into. Flattened PDFs are not supported.

Specifically, AI Copilot supports the following types of PDFs:

• Searchable PDF: Contains digital text data that can be highlighted, copied, searched, and accessed programmatically. This type of PDF has undergone previous processing or was saved from a word processor.
• Fillable PDF: Similar to a searchable PDF, this file allows the user to input and save additional information into form fields.

What services does AI Copilot connect to and what information is sent?

AI Copilot connects to Azure OpenAI for its generative AI capabilities. Only the content of the PDF is sent to Azure OpenAI.

For more information about Azure OpenAI data privacy, see the Microsoft documentation.

Why wasn't my entire form generated?

Sometimes AI Copilot generates incorrect SAIL when it is generating a form. If this happens, it will stop generating, allowing you to take over. You can try to upload the same form again, but if it keeps having issues you may want to consider modifying the form or using a different one.

If the PDF you upload is too large, AI Copilot will let you know that it couldn't generate the entire form. The size of PDF that AI Copilot can comfortably work with is determined by the token limit of your Azure OpenAI Service license.

Why am I getting an error that the file I uploaded can't be read?

First, make sure your PDF is a supported type. Also, make sure the form is human readable. If a human can't read it, AI Copilot can't read it either.

Sometimes, you'll see this error when a PDF isn't created correctly. For example, if a document is renamed using the .pdf extension, but it isn't saved as a PDF.

Why isn't a form generating after I upload a PDF?

If your Azure OpenAI credentials are not correct, AI Copilot will display, but it will be unable to generate a form. Make sure the credentials in the Admin Console are correct and try again.

How does AI Copilot generate instructions for my form?

AI Copilot will ask if you want to generate instructions. If you click "Yes," it generates instructions in a card next to the form fields. These instructions are based on the content of your form and generally include a summary of the form and instructions for how to fill out the form.

If your form has text that AI Copilot recognizes as instructions, it may add that text to the header of the form.

If you don't select "Yes" or "No," instructions won't be generated. If you'd like to generate instructions after all, click Start over to upload your form again and select "Yes" the next time AI Copilot asks.

As always, be sure to review any AI-generated content to make sure it is accurate and appropriate.

Why are some of the design capabilities disabled while the form is generating?

When AI Copilot is generating your form, we disable some parts of the interface object, such as expression mode and the Preview and Performance tabs. This makes sure that AI Copilot isn't interrupted while it is generating the form. As soon as the form generation completes, the parts of the interface object that were disabled will be reenabled.

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