Early Access
This article has been published prior to Ask’s GA date. Content may be subject to updates before its official release.
Ask allows you to ask questions in plain English and receive narrative answers, complete with supporting citations from your documents.
Click the Ask AI button on the right side of the search bar to open the Ask window.
The window can be freely moved around the screen for your convenience.
When the Ask window first opens, you’ll see prompts to guide you:
Ask a question to explore actors, identify discussions, and find facts.
In the question box, an example is provided (e.g., Who is Jeffrey Skilling?) to help you get started.
To begin exploring the Ask interface, simply type a question.
Ask “ Who is Jeffrey Skilling?”.
Once you submit your question, Ask will display a narrative answer in the response window.
In the example above, the question “Who is Jeffrey Skilling?” is followed by a summarized digest of relevant information from the data.
Beneath the question and digest, a ribbon displays the number of:
Supporting Docs - The number of documents containing responsive information. Each is labeled with its control number with number of references contained within.
References - The supporting document number and the number of textual passages there containing responsive information; a supporting document may contain more than one Reference. (You will note in the above image that in the source document list Source #1, DE-00625673, contains 6 References.)
Below the ribbon are tools:
Down Arrow – to expand all Source detail in the list. By default, only the first three items displayed show the first four lines of each Reference, each having an option to display Show More.
Up Arrow / Collapse all – to collapse all Source detail in the list.
Below the tools is the Cited Documents list:
Each supporting document title displayed in document score order. The document scores are at right above each Reference. There may be more than one Reference in a Source Document.
Each Reference will display four lines of extracted text, with a More option to display the entire block of text.
A launch arrow to the right of the Reference score will open the source document in the Document Viewer. It will not open directly to the reference at this time
Beneath the question box, you’ll find two key options:
More Details/Less Details – toggles an additional text field for instructions (e.g., Explain in detail, Create a list). This allows you to tell Ask how to format the results or apply specific treatments within the narrative (e.g., list the names of people found in documents).
Search Scope – choose whether your question applies to the Current Results (###) or the Entire Dataset (###).
At the upper right corner of the Ask window there is an X to close the Ask window.
Ask History sidebar lets you view prior questions, reopen them, and build on them with follow ups. This include Ask function controls.
+New Chat – clears the current session for a new question.
Ask History – chats are listed chronologically, by TODAY, LAST 7 DAYS, and OLDER THAN & DAYS. These can be selected for further action.
Download – generates an Excel spreadsheet of current Supporting Documents.
Collapse Menu – minimizes the Ask sidebar to icons.