Getting Started with Archie, the Smokeball AI Assistant

Archie is your Smokeball AI Matter Assistant. It provides answers to any questions you have about your matter.

Archie excels at understanding the content of your matter, such as the matter details, documents, letters, and emails. When you ask Archie a question, you will always get a response that is relevant and contextual.

The main areas that Archie excels at are:

• Matter research
• Document reviews 
• Document drafting

Accessing and using Archie

To start using Archie:

1. Open a matter in the Smokeball Desktop App or Web App.
2. Select the Archie tab.
   
   
3. If this is the first time anyone in your firm has opened the Archie tab on this matter, allow some time for Archie to train on your documents for best results. The more documents there are in this matter, the longer it may take. 
   
4. Ask Archie a question by typing in the field at the bottom of the window.
   • Need some inspiration? Use the Ask, Browse, Compose and Draft buttons to get started.
     
   • Ask a question about a document by selecting the Paperclip icon.
     
   • Start drafting correspondence or a legal document by selecting the Quill icon. Learn more about drafting correspondence with Archie.
     
5. Archie will then generate a response based on your input.
   
6. Some responses will cite a matter document as a source. Click on the document name to access a summary or preview of the document.
   

   

   Under the suggested document, you can ask further questions about the specific document by selecting Start a New Chat. Learn more about reviewing documents with Archie.

   
7. Scroll to the bottom of the response to:
   
   • Give us feedback on the response with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. This will help refine the quality of Archie's responses in real-time. This option only appears for Archie conversations that you initiate.
   • Copy the response to your clipboard, so you can paste it elsewhere on your computer
   • Save the response as a memo to your matter
   • Open the response in Microsoft Word (handy for drafting documents)
   • Open the response in Microsoft Outlook (handy for drafting emails)
   • Send the response as a Client Portal message
   • Regenerate a different response
     

Viewing historical Archie conversations

The left panel will display a history of all questions you and your staff members have asked Archie. Select Ask Archie a new question to start a fresh conversation.

You can use the search bar to find a prompt you used in the past.

To see all prompts that other staff members have asked on the matter, use the drop-down menu next to the search bar and select All Staff or a specific staff member. 

Save a historical prompt to the Prompt Library

If you have prompts that you have frequently use, save them to the Prompt Library for yourself and your firm for easy access.

1. Open a matter file and select the Archie tab.
   
   
2. Select a prompt you previously used in the left panel.
3. Select the book icon and then select Create in the pop-up window.

The Prompt editor will open in a new window and you will be presented with multiple options for editing the prompt:

1. 1. Click the pencil icon in the upper left to edit the prompt name, associated matter type(s), and description.
   2. At the top of the screen, you can toggle between the editor and an isolated testing environment to test your prompt.
   3. Select who can see the prompt from the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the screen.
   4. Use the Actions section to add and/or re-order prompt actions as needed. You can also use the toggle to make sure a document is selected to run the prompt.
   5. Use the fields in the centre of the screen to modify the selected prompt action from the prompt selected in the Actions section. 

All changes you make in the Prompt editor are automatically saved. When you're done, close the window and reopen the Archie tab in the matter.

The prompt will then be available in the library. Click on the pencil icon to edit the prompt or the play icon to run it.

Conducting matter research with Archie

Archie can improve your productivity by answering questions about your matter.

Learn more about using Archie for research.

Reviewing documents with Archie

Archie can assist with document review by summarising, comparing, reviewing, or suggesting in matter documents.

Learn more about using Archie to review documents.

Drafting correspondence with Archie

Use Archie as your writing assistant to draft letters and emails to your clients.

Learn more about using Archie for drafting correspondence.

Learning more about AI and prompt writing

Take our Smokeball AI Certification on the Smokeball Academy to learn best practices when writing prompts and more. Completing this course also contributes 1 CPD point towards the Professional Skills category.

Who can use Archie?

By default, all users in your firm can access and use Archie. However, if you would like to disable Archie access for individual users and you have Firm Owner permissions, you can do so by accessing Staff and User Permissions in Smokeball Settings.