# Entity-Based Conversation ## An Enhanced Conversational Experience Speaking with Crystal is getting easier than ever! Since [**Release 2.57**](https://docs.igenius.ai/release-notes/2024/crystal-web/crystal-web-v2.57), Crystal offers you **more freedom** when asking questions. 1. **You can ask about Topics that are not pre-configured** *In the past, you needed to know which Topics were configured in order to ask a question. Now, there are no limits to the Topics that you can ask Crystal about.* 2. **You can ask questions with more flexibility** *In the past, explicating the Objective was always strictly mandatory when asking about a Topic. Now, there are also scenarios where you don't need to specify it in greater detail.* ## A New Topic Generation Method The described conversation enhancements are possible thanks to the introduction of a new Crystal capability: the **automatic generation of Topics based on Entities**. This is an *additional method for Topic generation* that stands alongside the *pre-existing* [***Configuration process***](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-console/topics-configuration) *method,* carried out by the Admin User in the Crystal Console. {% hint style="info" %} **Please Note** The Topics known as "A*uto-generated Topics*" are automatically generated by Crystal to differentiate them from the *"Configured Topics"*, created by the Admin User. {% endhint %} Unlike Configured Topics, Auto-generated Topics don't need to be manually created as they are **generated directly by Crystal**. That's why you can now ask questions beyond the scope of Configured Topics. However, Topic Configuration is still currently supported, as it remains a fundamental pillar of Crystal conversations. Both methods combined together ensure the most advanced and complete conversational experience ever available on Crystal. A this time, the automatic Topic generation method is activated *when no specific Configured Topic is available* to address the request. In other words, when you ask about a Topic, Crystal first tries to match a Configured Topic for which you have viewing permissions. If there aren't any, a new Topic will be generated. *All you need to do is keep asking questions and Crystal will provide the best type of Topic available to meet your request.* {% hint style="warning" %} **Remember** Even though this capability revolves more around the *logics beneath Crystal's answer formulation* (i.e. how Crystal generates Topics autonomously), it also impacts *the way you can ask for Topics*. To talk to Crystal and get answers in the form of Auto-generated Topics, you can still follow the same [**conversational rules**](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/talk-to-your-data/conversation/request-topics) used for Configured Topics, keeping in mind **new logics that make the rules less strict**! {% endhint %} ## How Does It Work? The automatic Topic Generation capability and the Conversation enhancements will be analyzed separately. ### Automatic Topic Generation Crystal can autonomously generate Topics **using the Entities within the dataset**, either individually or in combination. When you ask about a Topic that has not been configured by the Admin, Crystal leverages the **Entity configuration** **pre-existing in other Configured Topics** to **infer possible combinations** of the Entities. Starting from a single Configured Topic, Crystal can create new Topics based on any combination of Entities, regardless of the Objective and Filters included. For example: * Consider a Configured Topic with the Main Entity *"Licenses"* and three Filters applied: *"country"*, *"region"*, and *"product type"* * Crystal can create: * *"Overtime of Licenses (by day)"* * *"Comparison of licenses by region and country"* * *and other similar results.*

Auto-generated Topic

{% hint style="info" %} **Note** Auto-generated Topics will always *look* the same and be made of the same *elements* as the Configured Topics (read more [here](https://docs.igenius.ai/fundamentals/crystal-topics)). The main difference lies in the *generation method*. Configured Topics can be considered to be *"real"*, as they are created and managed by the Admin. However, Auto-generated Topics are considered as *"virtual"*, as they exist but cannot be created or managed manually. Moreover, there are differences in the *functionalities* that they currently support, as explained in the following paragraph. {% endhint %} #### Rules * For Crystal to auto-generate a Topic from your question, the Entities in the question must be **present in at least one Configured Topic.** * The Entities that Crystal can use for Topic generation can be of any type, **including Custom Entities.** * Auto-generation **does** **not take viewing permissions of Topics** **into account.** Therefore, Crystal will also be able to generate Topics from Configured Topics that you don't have permissions for. * If you ask for multiple Entities, they can belong indistinctly to the **same Table** or to **different Tables** (in this case, Crystal will automatically join them for you). * When **Entities with the same name** are detected, the misunderstanding risk is higher. In this case, Crystal will enter [**Disambiguation**](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/talk-to-your-data/conversation/disambiguation) and ask you to choose the correct Table source for the Entity. * When you ask for an **Objective "Composition"**, Crystal applies the following logics to generate Topics: * When comparing two Entities with *different units of measure*, a *Scaled-up Number* will be the default Visualization, containing all the requested measures. * When comparing two Entities with *different units of measure with a Breakdown*, a *Scatterplot* will be the default Visualization. * In all other cases, a *Bar Chart* will be the default Visualization. * If an **aggregation** is recognized in a Topic, it will also be used in the Auto-generated Topic. otherwise an aggregation will be established based on the Configured Topic specifications. In particular: * If the Entity has been configured by specifying an aggregation, the *first aggregation* on this Entity will be considered. * If the Entity is not numeric, and has only been configured as a Filter or Categorical Entity, the *distinct count* is used by default. * If the Entity is numeric, and is without explicit aggregation, the *sum* is used by default * The **default Time Range** applied to the Auto-generated Topics will be handled in different ways, based on whether Crystal is able to perform a **Time Entity inference** or not: * Usually, Crystal should infer the Time Entity *from at least one Configured Topic.* In this case, the default Time Range applied on the Auto-generated Topic is the same inferred from the Configured Topics. * In the case where Crystal finds ambiguities among several Configured Topics, the applied default Time Range is *the* *one configured in the System Settings.* * Should Crystal not be able to infer the Time Entity at all, it will be missing on the Topic and therefore *all* [*start-to-date*](#user-content-fn-1)[^1] *records will be extracted and shown* on the Topic. Moreover, you *won't be able to filter this Topic using Time Filters* (but only with Dynamic Filters). * In the case where Crystal auto-generates an "**Overtime" Topic**, if no Time-Entity Topics have been configured for the specific requested Entity, Crystal will **guess which Time Entity** to use. If this operation fails, you will see a specific error message. * The **time aggregation for Topics with an Overtime Objective** can only be requested if at least one other Overtime Topic is previously configured for the same Entity. In that case, you can ask the for a time aggregation. However, if not specified, the time aggregation would be *monthly,* by default. * Auto-generated Topics **only inherit the permissions from the Configured Topic for Entities and Filter Values.** Unlike Configured Topics, Auto-generated Topics don't need assigned Permissions, as they are "virtual" Topics", and therefore cannot be manually managed by the Admin. * The following **Crystal capabilities** are also **available for Auto-generated Topics:** * All the actions available on the Topic Card ([Filter](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/explore-your-data/how-to-use-filters), Set [Anomaly Detection](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/alerts/alerts) or [Schedule Topic ](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/alerts/alerts-2)Alerts, Save in [Data Stories](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/report-and-discuss-your-data/data-storytelling), [Share](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/report-and-discuss-your-data/share-topic), [Download](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/report-and-discuss-your-data/export-topic), [Ask again](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/explore-your-data/ask-topics), [Forecast](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/forecasting), Expand) * [Context Memory](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/talk-to-your-data/conversation/request-topics/context-memory) * [Automated Insights](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/automated-insights) #### Limitations * If the requested Entities are **not** **present in at least one Configured Topic**, Crystal cannot generate new Topics. * When you ask for **Entities coming from different Tables**, you can involve up to **40 Tables** from the chosen Data Source, as this is the current limit for Table configuration on Crystal. * If the requested Entities are spread across **multiple Data Sources**, they cannot be used to generate a new Topic. * When the Entities used for Topic generation are **Custom Entities**, keep the following limitations in mind: * If a Custom Entity is defined by Columns from Table A, you can request Virtual Topics with Entities different from A *only if there are Configured Topics* [*that have the necessary joins*](#user-content-fn-2)[^2] * If the Custom Entity is defined by Columns from both Tables A and B, you can request Virtual Topics with Entities from both A and B. * Topic types such as **Description** or **Comparison - Single column pos. neg.** cannot be auto-generated. * When asking about a Topic of **List** type, the auto-generated **Table** Visualization will contain *as many Columns as the Entities specified in the question.* This means that if only one Entity is specified, the table will have only one Column, but if you specify all the Entities, you'll get more Columns. * For example: "*Show me a list of customer IDs"* and "*Show me a list of customer IDs and relative names and ages".* * When asking for a Topic of **Ranking** type, you need to specify the Entity order in which you want your result. * For example: *"Show me the ranking of sales agents by closed contracts"* * Auto-generated Topics **won’t be involved in other Crystal capabilities** related to Topics, which will be *available for Configured Topics only*: * [Topics Overview](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/explore-your-data/dashboard) * [Topic Suggestions](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/explore-your-data/suggestions) * [Autocomplete](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/talk-to-your-data/conversation/request-topics/autocomplete) * [Insight Analysis](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/insight-analysis) * [Alerts setting via conversation](https://docs.igenius.ai/crystal-advisor/analyze-your-data/alerts), for both Anomaly Detection and Threshold Monitoring (but you can set an Anomaly Detection via Topic Card instead). ### Enhanced Conversation Rules Crystal can now infer a Topic Objective, even when the question is not explicitly written out. {% hint style="success" %} **Examples** * You can simply ask *"Sales by Country"* and Crystal will directly return a **Breakdown** Visualization, inferring a **Composition** Objective. * You can simply ask *"Total of Sales"* and Crystal will directly return a **Scaled-up Number** Visualization, inferring the **Highlight** Objective. {% endhint %}

Objective Inference

#### Rules & Limitations * At present, this capability is only available for two Objectives: **Composition** and **Highlight.** * *For all the other cases*, **you still need to** **specify your Objective** to obtain the corresponding Visualization * *When the Objective is not specified*, Crystal will assume that you are asking for a Composition. Therefore, by default you'll receive a **Breakdown by default** (if the underlying data allows it). Keep talking to your data! *** [^1]: what does this mean? [^2]: what?