Enabling AI features

Available from Totara 19.1

You can enable and use Totara AI features within your site. These features use a Totara integration with OpenAI.

Accessing AI features

AI features in Totara are available as an optional add-on and require the installation of an additional plugin. These are not included in a standard Totara installation.

To enable AI functionality on your site, please contact your Totara Partner. They can assist you in setting up the necessary plugin and accessing the required codebase.

For more technical information on setting up these integrations, refer to the AI integrations developer documentation.

Enabling Totara AI features

To enable the Totara AI features:

1. Ensure you have created an OpenAI API account.

2. Enable the AI feature by going to Quick-access menu > Development > New and experimental > Experimental settings (/admin/settings.php?section=experimentalsettings).

3. Select Enable AI.

Once enabled, the AI features and plugins will be accessible.

With the AI features enabled, you next need to set up your OpenAI account with Totara.

1. Go to Quick-access menu > Development > New and experimental > Artificial intelligence > OpenAI.

2. Complete the OpenAI details:

3. Click Save changes.

Once you have saved changes, you can navigate to the Manage AI page by clicking Manage AI within the Artificial Intelligence menu.

Note: you can access the Manage AI page anytime by going to Quick-access menu > Development > New and experimental > Artificial intelligence > Manage AI.

From this page:

• You can enable/disable the AI service providers by selecting the eye icon ( ).

• Access the settings for the enabled AI service provider.

• View the AI interaction providers.

This table provides an overview of the different AI-powered interactions available within Totara, alongside the required underlying features that enable each interaction.

• Interaction (The AI feature).

• Description.

• Feature required:

  • Generative prompt: Enables AI-generated outputs based on text input alone.

  • Generative prompt with file: Allows the AI to reference an uploaded file alongside the prompt to generate a context-specific output.

  • Generative image: Supports generating images from prompts using an image-generation model.

Enable or disable AI features

You can enable or disable specific AI features on your Totara site once Totara AI features has been enabled.

1. Go to Quick-access menu > Development > New and experimental > Artificial intelligence.

2. From here, select the AI feature i.e. AI Image Generation to enable or disable.

3. Click the checkbox to either enable or disable the AI feature.

4. Select Save changes.

Customising the AI assistant prompt

When enabling AI features in Totara, you can customise how the AI assistant behaves by editing the System Prompt setting.

What is the system prompt?

The System Prompt is a predefined instruction that sets the context and tone for the AI assistant. It tells the AI how to behave, what kind of language to use, and what to prioritise when generating content. This ensures the responses generated by the assistant align with your organisation’s brand, tone, and target audience.

How to customise the AI prompt

When the Totara AI features are enabled, the prompt for the AI assistant can be customised by:

1. Going to Quick-access menu > Development > New and experimental > Artificial intelligence.

2. From here, select the AI feature i.e. AI Form Assistant.

3. Edit the AI prompt instruction setting field in the selected AI assistant.

4. Select Save changes.

Example use case customising prompt instruction (AI form assistant)

By default, the AI assistant prompt reads:

‘You are a helpful assistant that generates text for form fields in a learning management system.’

You could customise this to reflect your organisation’s style and communication goals. For example:

‘You are a friendly and professional assistant for a corporate learning platform. Use clear, inclusive language suitable for adult learners in the workplace. Maintain a tone that reflects our brand values: approachable, empowering, and expert. Avoid jargon and use plain English’.

Why customise the prompt?

Customising the system prompt helps the AI assistant produce outputs that are:

• More aligned with your brand voice.

• Tailored for your intended audience.

• Consistent across different parts of the LMS.

• Easier for end users to engage with and understand.

Note: whilst Site Administrators have the ability to change configuration of AI features settings, including the AI assistant prompt settings, it is highly recommended that you do not change this unless you are confident in the change and have tested the impact the change may have.

Next steps

Using Totara AI features