Decide if AI should guess the value of a specific field in AI actions

This tutorial refers to AI actions. These are Zapier actions that can only be used through another app. 

Alpha

AI actions is an alpha product. It’s available for use, but still in active development and may change.

For fields in an AI action, during set up, you can:

• Let the AI guess the value for a field.
• Set a specific value for it.
• Choose to not include that field in the AI response. 

This article will explain these options and provide examples.

Let AI guess a value for this field

This option lets the AI app assign the value for a field, based on the instructions you provided when running the AI action. When using this option, all necessary information should be included in the instructions to the AI.

Example

If you use Gmail: Send email AI action and leave the Subject and To fields as "Have AI guess a value for this field", the AI will create a subject that is related to the content of the instructions. 

So when you instruct the AI app to "Send juliana@example.com an email saying 'Can we meet tomorrow for breakfast?'", it may generate a subject such as "Meet me for breakfast?" and use the address you specified to send the email.

Set a specific value for this field

This option makes the AI app use the same value for a field every time you use that AI action. The AI app will ignore any information related to that field that is included in the instructions.

Example

Using the Gmail: Send Email AI action, set the field Subject to "Set a specific value for this field", then type "Breakfast meeting". If you then instruct the AI to send an email to juliana@example.com and say to use the subject "Let's meet tomorrow!", it will ignore the subject. It will use "Breakfast meeting" as the subject because you set that previously. 

Update a dropdown to find newer items

When you select "Set a specific value for this field", it may require a value selected from that app (for example, a specific spreadsheet from Google Sheets). Some fields might take a while to show newer items in that dropdown menu. If you're having trouble finding a newer item:

1. In the AI action you're working on, click the dropdown menu that currently has Set a specific value for this field selected.
2. Select Have AI guess a value for this field.
3. Click Back to save changes.
4. Click the name of the same AI action to edit it again.
5. In the dropdown menu for the field, select Set a specific value for this field. 
6. Click the new dropdown field that will appear. You should now see your new item.

Do not include a value for this field

This option is only available for optional fields. This will make the AI app always ignore the specific field. When this option is selected from the dropdown menu, even if you include specific instructions related to the field, the AI app will ignore those instructions. 

Example

If you use the Gmail: Send Email AI action and leave the field Bcc set as "Do not include a value for this field", even if you instruct AI to "bcc yuriko@example.com in the email", it will not add that email.

Note

By default, Zapier only shows required fields during the setup process. To view and use optional fields, click Show all options at the bottom of the setup screen. 

Get support for AI actions

To reach out to the Zapier AI support team, fill out this form.

Other recommended help guides

• Zapier AI actions in other apps
• Create AI actions within an AI app
• Manage your AI actions
• Use AI actions within an AI app