Having your first conversation

After you've set Alek up, it's time to start using it in conversations!

Table of contents

If you haven't already, make sure you follow the getting started guide here. It's especially important that you've filled out the background section!

If you prefer video content, you can see this page here for a video example of having a conversation with Alek.

Last Updated: 28th September 2024 (out-dated)

Recording your conversations

Alek uses the details of your current conversation (and your background information) to suggest responses. However, in order for the app to know the details, we have to be recording when the other person is talking.

Alek comes with a speech to text capability, you just have to tell Alek when to start and stop recording.

In the below screenshot, you can see the microphone button is highlighted. Before someone starts talking to you, you need to press this button. This will start the recording.

mic_button_highlighted

After they have finished speaking, press the stop button, and Alek will attempt to convert what they said to text. 

recording_modal

You can see the outcome in the chat box at the bottom. You can also press the restart button if something went wrong, or press cancel if you don't need to record anymore.

conversation_history_single_message

Warning - sometimes the speech to text will get the details wrong, don't worry about that too much. It doesn't need to be perfect for Alek to suggest appropriate responses.

You can always start recording again if they continue to speak.

Simple text to speech

While Alek does have some advanced features, it also functions as a standard text to speech app.

  1. Click in the text box at the top.
  2. Type your message out.
  3. Press the speech bubble on the right, and your message will be played out of your device speaker.
  4. The message will also be displayed in the chat box at the bottom of the screen.

message_in_text_area

You can always revert to this method if the suggested responses don't work for you.

Using suggested responses

While you can use Alek to manually type out your responses, the true benefit comes from using the suggested responses. You can use suggested responses as long as:

  • You have typed something in the text box, OR
  • You have recorded at least one message from your conversation partner.

If you have done at least one of the above, then click the brain button (highlighted below).

brain_button_highlighted_with_conversation-1

Once you do that, Alek will suggest three different responses that you can choose from.

suggested_responses

From here, if you like one of the options, you can click on it and Alek will speak it for you. You can also:

  • Suggest some new responses: Alek will try to avoid repeating itself, so if nothing on the list works for you, try getting a new list.
  • Toggle auto-send: if you want to edit your message first, you can change the auto-send setting. If auto-send is turned off, then the message will instead be inserted in to the text box, and you can modify it as much as you like.
  • Cancel: if none of the suggestions are even close, you can close the options list.

Reset the conversation

At the moment Alek can struggle to change topics, so if the conversation is finished or you do want to change topics, the best way is to reset your conversation history.

You can do this by going back in to the conversation settings, and clicking the "Reset conversation" button. This will delete your conversation so far and start a new one.

conversation_history_two_messages_settings_open

How to get better responses

Sometimes when you use the suggested responses, none of the options will be suitable. There are a few things you can do to help "guide" Alek to suggest better responses:

  • Write some keywords or the start of a sentence in the text box: Alek will consider anything that you write in the text box. If for example someone asks about your favourite holiday destination, you can write the word "beach" in the text box, and then the suggested responses are more likely to reference the beach.
  • Update your background: Alek also uses your background when deciding what to say. If the suggestions use words that you don't like, or if you want to talk about a specific topic, it helps to add some of that information to your background. You can refer to this guide here for more tips on writing your background.
  • Reset the conversation: Sometimes if the conversation so far is unrelated or you want to change topic, it might be best to reset your conversation and start from a clean slate (see above for instructions).

One thing to keep in mind - there will always be an element of 'random-ness' to the suggestions. Sometimes simply asking for new suggestions can give you something that fits your needs better.

What next?

That's it! You should be able to just repeat the above as long as you need (although if the conversation starts to get too long it can be a good idea to reset it when you get a chance).

Good luck, and if you have any questions or issues don't hesitate to reach out to us.