ArcGIS Artificial Intelligence Assistant

[MichaëlSt-Pierre]

It would be nice if Esri would develop a Vocal web base Artificial Intelligence Assistant capable of answering for us most questions we have about their product functionalities.

They could have this AI Assistant learn all product documentations, all support cases, all bugs, etc. Then a user would only ask a question and the Assistant would reply either directly with an answer or ask a question back to the user for more details.

This AI Assistant should be able to answer questions such as :

"Assistant, what is the difference between a Web Feature Layer and a Map Image?"

"Assistant, how can I configure Portal so users can log in with their organization windows credential."

It would save a lot on Customer Support as their users could often get answers themselves through the AI Assistant.

It would allow their users to gain the equivalent of a training only with a conversation with the Assistant.

It would allow unknowledgeable users to gain rapidly experience, therefore democratizing even more their product.

Possible future application to this AI Assistant would be to allow it Step-by-Step GeoProcessing interaction with Desktop applications. Ex.: "Assistant, select all features from xLayer which are within a distance of 100m from this xFlooding polygon. From the selected features, change xField attributes to "At Risk of Climate Change".

Wouldn't it be nice?

[RTPL_AU]

Esri would do well to make their documentation and guides available to the various AI / LLM companies like OpenAI, Anthopic, etc so that their info is 'first to mind' in LLMs when people as GIS-related questions.

Currently it is a gamble to get something useful or true and you have to know your subject matter. 

ChatGPT works OK with a proper lead-in but you never know when it's going to lose the plot and revert to being a child of the 60's...

Getting a proper response from ChatGPT  that starts with "Using ArcGIS Pro .........." will be a good thing  for Esri won't it? -- In addition to anything they can cook up themselves. 

First prize would be an Esri trained open LLM based on something like Llama that I can download and host myself so I can use real data & problems without having to worry about confidentiality.

[MollyGreenHogeweg]

@SYOCSan @nadja @SimonSchütte_ct @RoseF As promised, I wanted to let you know that the AI chatbot is now live on the support site! More information here: Get the Most from the Support Site with the Esri Support AI Chatbot.

On support.esri.com, click the green bubble in the bottom-right corner of the screen to get started. If you have feedback as you're experimenting with it, please let us know with the feedback option. We're constantly tinkering with it and trying to improve!

[RTPL_AU]

@MollyGreenHogeweg Does Esri have an easy to find public document describing the use of information supplied to the AI Chatbot with regards to IP licensing, training of the AI, commercial in confidence aspects etc? The likes of Adobe has made their position very clear on this.

I couldn't find much on AI/Machine Learning other than what pertains to Warranties & Disclaimers.

The consent given by the waiver, nor the Privacy Policy clearly cover sensitive data/information that is not  "Personal Information".
"By using the Esri Support AI Chatbot, please note information provided is subject to Esri's Privacy Statement and will be recorded and shared with Esri's service provider to support and enhance this chat feature. By selecting Agree, you are indicating that you that you understand and consent to these terms."

Seeing as Esri and its regional agents are both vendors of the software, and competitors in service provision, I would like to see the use of AI and associated Data addressed a bit more openly.

[RTPL_AU]

And to quote a meme:  And there's the re-roll!!

A typical question got a very high level reply and this little gem at the bottom:
"Please note that these steps require a certain level of familiarity with ArcGIS. If you need further assistance, please contact Esri technical support."

From experience anything that is not a bug or error related submission to support will be met by "we do not provide scripts but you can engage us to develop it for you". 

Further comment:
It does not look like the chatbot has any ability to answer a question based on a comment/enquiry related to its previous answer. It gave me a reply and when I asked to explain a function in that reply, I received a generic, unrelated response.  EDIT: It does, I just have to ask better questions and give more context from of a previous response.

@MollyGreenHogeweg Has anyone tested the chatbot experience against offerings by OpenAI, Anthopic or even a self hosted LLM using any of the free stacks now available?

[RTPL_AU]

@MollyGreenHogeweg you have to have a serious look at the chatbot - it is giving extremely bad/misleading results.

Me:
Question about dividing a square polygon into quarters >

Chatbot in one answer:
Use the Divide tool to divide each polygon into four quarters. You can use the arcpy.management.Divide function in your script.
........ etc

Me:
Explain using Divide

Chatbot:
The Divide tool in ArcGIS Pro allows you to split a selected polygon feature into multiple features. You can specify the angle and side from which the polygon is divided. This tool is available in the Modify Features pane.
........etc  (no mention of arcpy.management.Divide in reply

Me:
Explain arcpy.management.Divide from your previous answer and how it would work to divide a polygon into quarters.

Chatbot:
The arcpy.management.Divide function in ArcGIS Pro is used to divide the values of two rasters on a cell-by-cell basis. However, it seems there might be a misunderstanding. This function is not used to divide a polygon into quarters.
.........

Me:
point me to the documentation of arcpy.management.Divide

Chatbot:
Sorry about this! I've run into an issue while trying to process your request. Please try again in a moment.

So maybe it is better with licensing:

Me:
Explain the new Pro licenses and which extentions I will get     (yes - it is spelled incorrectly, deliberately)

Chatbot:

ArcGIS Pro can be configured to use different license types, which are authorized, managed, and validated by ArcGIS Pro in different ways. These license types allow you to optimize the value of your licenses based on your needs. There are three license types:

1. Named User licenses: These are the default license type. In an ArcGIS organization, they are assigned automatically to the GIS Professional user type and optionally to the Creator user type. With a Named User license, an organization member signs in to ArcGIS Pro with their organization credentials.

2. Single Use licenses: These authorize one person to use ArcGIS Pro. That person can use the software on one computer at a time, while having it installed on a maximum of two computers. Single Use licenses are obtained by converting ArcGIS Pro licenses that come with a Single Use ArcGIS Desktop deployment from Named User to Single Use.

3. Concurrent Use licenses: These authorize the use of ArcGIS Pro independently of an ArcGIS organization from a pool of licenses managed by ArcGIS License Manager.

There are three license levels—Basic, Standard, and Advanced—which provide progressively more functionality. Licenses for extension products provide additional functionality for specific needs. Extensions require a separate license and may need to be installed separately.

The extensions included in the ArcGIS Pro All Extensions Bundle are: ArcGIS 3D Analyst, ArcGIS Data Interoperability, ArcGIS Data Reviewer, ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst, ArcGIS Image Analyst, ArcGIS Network Analyst, ArcGIS Publisher, ArcGIS Spatial Analyst, ArcGIS Workflow Manager, and ArcGIS LocateXT.

Please note that the availability of these extensions depends on the licensing agreement of your organization with Esri. For more detailed information, please contact your organization's ArcGIS administrator or Esri representative.

For reference this is what I got from ChatGPT (paid version - vanilla 4o)
ChatGPT:

Searched 5 sites

As of June 2024, Esri has updated the ArcGIS Pro licensing model, introducing six distinct user types that cater to various roles and needs within organizations. These user types are structured to progressively offer more capabilities, tools, and extensions as you move from the basic to the most advanced licenses.

The New User Types and Their Extensions:

1. Viewer: This basic user type allows secure access to view maps, apps, and dashboards. No ArcGIS Pro extensions are included at this level.

2. Contributor: This includes everything in Viewer with the added ability to edit and interact with data. It also does not include ArcGIS Pro or any extensions.

3. Mobile Worker: This user type includes all Contributor capabilities plus access to ArcGIS mobile apps. It still does not provide access to ArcGIS Pro or its extensions.

4. Creator: This level combines the previous Creator and GIS Professional Basic user types, providing access to ArcGIS Pro Basic and essential tools for editing, analysis, and data management. However, it doesn't include any ArcGIS Pro extensions by default.

5. Professional: This user type includes all the capabilities of the Creator, along with ArcGIS Pro Standard, which introduces more advanced tools such as versioned editing and additional specialized tools. Extensions are still not included.

6. Professional Plus: The highest user type, Professional Plus, provides access to ArcGIS Pro Advanced and comes with a set of essential ArcGIS Pro extensions. The included extensions are:

   • 3D Analyst
   • Data Reviewer
   • Geostatistical Analyst
   • Image Analyst
   • LocateXT
   • Network Analyst
   • Publisher
   • Spatial Analyst
   • Workflow Manager

This user type is designed for those who need comprehensive analysis capabilities and access to a wide array of tools for both 2D and 3D data, advanced data quality control, and network analysis, among others.

This licensing model simplifies administration and allows organizations to scale user access according to their needs while ensuring that users at the Professional Plus level have access to the most powerful tools available in ArcGIS Pro.

For more details, you can refer to the official documentation on ArcGIS Pro licensing and the updates shared by Esri here.

I'm disappointed in Esri. Did a project manager sleep on this and it was rushed to market, just so you can say "We have an AI too!"?

[RTPL_AU]

In case the chatbot comes up with something useful, please add a "Copy Code" button or make it possible to resize the window so that we can more easily select & copy the bits we want.

As you may notice there is no horizontal scroll slider visible and the only way to see the end of a line is to grab & select text to the end of the  line. Clicking in the text and  pressing END scrolls to the end of the dialog window.

There is a scroll bar at the bottom of the code window but scrolling around is a guessing game as the line you're after may not be visible.

[RTPL_AU]

@MollyGreenHogeweg Please check with the team that they give more weight to ArcGIS Pro so that the AI doesn't give responses referencing ArcCatalog & ArcMap in its responses.....