This one is for subscribers only and is in a test mode so it's limited in use - there's a cost to us that we need to monitor.
AI powered search is now available. This doesn't use any of our server resources and it's context aware so you can use phrases rather than just keywords. The system is still learning from past forum posts and topics. So far it's indexed the last 10k topics, which takes us back to something like 2023. As the system develops it will 'absorb' more forum posts from the past.
Search also covers our editorial content too, from reviews to news stories. That's experimental at this stage - it's all experimental to be honest. We can't know how useful it is until it gets used by you guys.
There's also a chat assistant that we've called Stan, for reasons.
All these new tools are available to subscribers only and as this is a very soft launch and there are costs attached we've initially limited ithere use to an individual daily quota per user. This is just so we can judge the worth and usefulness of the various tools. We'll loosen up those quotas as we learn along the way.
NOTE: As this is still very new and experimental we may need to deactivate some or all of it as we go. The goal is to work out what is useful, fun of value to subscribers and what is not and balance that against costs, so consider this very much in the BETA stage. But have fun with it and see what it can do 🙂
Summary:
You can get summaries of topics longer than 6 replies
You can search the last few years of the forum using keywords and phrases
You can translate any reply in to a big long list of languages
As you type a new topic title the system will suggest any existing topics that would answer your query
Other related topics will be suggested to you on each topic thread.
Stan is a our AI chat assistant that can answer your questions based on the forum and editorial (It still has a lot of learning to do - so be gentle with him).
Talk to Stan.
Stan is our resident AI chat bot , trained on the last 5 years or so of the forum posts. In other words trained on YOUR knowledge (Lord help us!)
Anyway, here's a quick explainer on how to use Stan.
First of all Stan is a subscriber only tool, so you need to sign up if you want to make friends with him.
You can access Stan via the 'Talk to Stan' tab you will see at the top of each forum page. Click it and this opens up..
I've circled the button that will give you access to Stan.
There is also an AI search tool and a Classic search tool. These behave in very different ways. The classic tool will let you search for anything you type in the search box. But that's all it will do. It will match you serach terms to what is in the forum. The AI search uses AI to determine the context of your search and this works best when you phrase your search as a question. For example, 'I'm looking for topics about travel to Canada'.
Give them both a try.
But to actually have a conversation with Stan you need to click the icon I've ringed in green. That gets you to the Stan conversation screen. This is a different animal to just simple search that points you towards actual topics. Here, Stan will respond with the combined knowledge of the forum and that means he is not restricted to bike talk. For example.. What does Stan know about lawnmowers?
It’s no mow may time again and my wife won’t let me mow the grass for a month. It will be a bit of a jungle come June. I’m in the market for a reasonably heavy duty lawn mower to deal with what is to come. Any suggestions?
Based on the forum content, you might want to consider a Honda petrol mower [13582339], which is known for its reliability and durability. It's also suggested to look into Stihl battery-powered mowers [13582337], which offer a good interchangeable battery system and are exceptionally powerful and efficient. These options should help you manage a larger lawn effectively.
Stan's knowledge is built on two things. 1) Your input over the last 5 years to the forum and 2) The knowledge base of all our Singletrack editorial output. He will combine answers from both those sources for you.
Caveat!
Stan is learning as we go. This means he's constantly absorbing the knowledge from the entire site every day. He will learn and grow as we all post to the forum and publish more Singletrack content to the site.
So, subscribers, give him a try and see how he performs.
