Creating Your Topic: Using AI for Smart Topics

Want to create a Custom Topic using the power of AI? Smart Topics help surface relevant items from your dashboard with minimum setup effort. Unlike keyword-based Topics that rely on exact matches, AI-created Topics understand context and meaning, helping you stay ahead of complex or fast-moving conversations.

This article explains how Smart Topics work and how to get the most out of them. For more straightforward instruction on creating a Topic (including Smart Topics), start with this article first.

How Smart Topics Work

Smart Topics evaluate each dashboard item against the topic’s:

• Title
• Description
• Suggested Keywords
• Relevance (from Broad to Precise)

Smart Topics refresh automatically every 8 hours, bringing in new, relevant content without any manual work.

When browsing your dashboard, you’ll see the topic name on relevant items. Hover over the label to view the match score and understand why it was included.

Best Practices for Creating a Smart Topic

Follow these guidelines to help the AI return the most accurate, useful results:

*Use a Clear, Descriptive Title

Choose a name that reflects the intent of the topic. Titles like “Downtown Redevelopment” or “Back-to-School Safety” are more effective than general ones like “Event” or “Fall Planning.”

*Write a Thoughtful Description

Describe what the topic is about, including key concepts, goals, or stakeholder concerns. For example:

“This topic covers community feedback, questions, and concerns about the upcoming redevelopment of the former warehouse site downtown, including traffic flow, safety, and potential displacement.”

The description is your main way of “training” the AI on the kind of conversation you’re looking for.

*Add Strategic Keywords

Think about how residents might talk about the issue—not how you would write about it in a press release. Include alternate terms, nicknames, acronyms, and plain-language phrasing. Don’t worry about variants (like tenses or plural/singular)—the AI understands these.

For example: If your topic is “Cannabis Licensing,” you might suggest keywords like “dispensary,” “marijuana,” “weed,” “zoning,” “permit,” or “cannabis shop.”

Note: Avoid using too many keywords that overlap with other unrelated conversations. You want to balance breadth with focus.

*Start With a Balanced Focus

You can:

• Lower towards "Broad" it if you feel like you’re missing relevant content
• Raise it towards "Precise" if you’re seeing too much noise or unrelated items

Adjust in small increments, then observe the results after a few update cycles.

*Check and Tweak

After creating a Smart Topic:

• Watch the item stream to ensure it aligns with your expectations
• Review the match scores shown on each item to understand what’s being included
• Refine your description or keywords if needed

When to Use a Smart Topic

Smart Topics are especially useful when:

• You expect residents to talk about the issue in varied ways
• The topic is sensitive, complex, or likely to change quickly
• You want to reduce the manual effort of refining keyword logic

If the issue is narrow, with consistent phrasing (like a single location or ordinance), a traditional keyword-based topic might be more efficient.