Digital White Papers

40 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Automating Knowledge Delivery Using Knowledge Bots Introducing KARLOS to the Firm To improve user experience and thereby make people more comfortable asking KARLOS questions, we took steps to give KARLOS a "personality." In addition to substantive answers, we included answers in KARLOS's knowledge base for various "chit- chat" inputs, such as "Hello," "How are you," "Are you there," "Tell me a joke," etc. We also include "easter egg" responses to questions like "Are you smarter than CARA AI?", "What's your favorite movie?", etc. We also gave KARLOS an avatar image (a cartoon image of a man in a business suit) as part of the "Ask KARLOS" buon on the firm's intranet. Clicking the "Ask KARLOS" buon opens a pop-up chat window where users can ask KARLOS questions. KARLOS introduced himself to the firm through an intranet announcement posted shortly before our firm's annual aorney retreat. The announcement explained that Ogletree employees could ask KARLOS questions by clicking the "Ask KARLOS" buon on the firm's intranet or by sending an email to KARLOS's email address. The announcement also contained suggestions of questions to ask and a link to more information about KARLOS on the firm's intranet: FAQs, a quick reference card, and an engaging three-minute introductory video explaining what KARLOS can do and how to interact with KARLOS. Giving KARLOS an email address and the ability to respond automatically to emails was important for a few reasons. The vast majority of the questions that my fellow KM Counsel and I receive arrive by email, and my initial motivation for developing a knowledge bot was to find an innovative and cost-efficient solution to alleviate the workload. Email functionality also means that aorneys can send questions to KARLOS directly from their phones if they want to ask a question while away from the office. The benefits of email functionality proved themselves early in the testing phase, when I found I could forward many of our frequently asked questions to KARLOS directly from my phone, copy and paste the answer from KARLOS's response, and then claim the credit for having answered the question! As part of the rollout, we also sponsored a raffle to solicit new questions and answers to include in KARLOS's knowledge base. Ogletree employees were encouraged to ask KARLOS questions and to click the "suggest a new question and answer" link for any questions KARLOS was unable to answer. For each suggested question and answer, employees received an entry in a raffle for one of six gi cards. This contest not only encouraged interaction with KARLOS, it also gave us a wealth of suggestions for how to improve KARLOS's knowledge base. Conclusion KM departments field many frequently asked questions. A knowledge bot such as KARLOS can automate the process of responding to a significant percentage of these FAQs, thereby giving the people in the department more time to focus on more complex work. For a relatively low initial investment of effort by a dedicated KM team, a law firm can have a knowledge bot that will work tirelessly, day and night, to help aorneys find the information they need. ILTA FLYN FLESHER As Knowledge Management Counsel, Flyn L. Flesher is responsible for capturing and organizing the collective knowledge of the firm's attorneys, allowing them to work more effectively and efficiently for their clients. For example, Mr. Flesher contributes to the firm's knowledge management efforts by creating or curating collections of model documents and templates; helping client teams and practice areas collaborate and manage their content; providing updates on legal developments; and fostering knowledge-sharing among attorneys.

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