Topic NLU Intent tab

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of NLU Intent tab

    The NLU Intent tab in ServiceNow's Virtual Agent Designer allows you to edit and refine Natural Language Understanding (NLU) models for conversation topics linked to specific intents. This tab is available when your topic uses NLU discovery, enabling you to review, test, and improve utterances and associated entities to enhance topic prediction accuracy and confidence.

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    Utterances tab

    This tab provides tools to manage utterances associated with an intent:

    • Add utterances: Enter unique phrases under 200 characters that users might say.
    • Edit or duplicate utterances: Modify existing phrases or create copies for reuse.
    • Move utterances: Transfer an utterance to a different intent to maintain clarity.
    • Delete utterances: Remove redundant or incorrect phrases.
    • Define new entities: Highlight words in an utterance to create entities, either simple or system-derived, which help the model understand specific data points within user input.

    Entities added here also appear in the Associated Entities tab.

    Associated Entities tab

    This tab lists all entities linked to the current intent. You can select each entity to see which utterances include it. Additionally, system entities like date and time can be associated with intents to improve recognition of common data types.

    Conflicts tab

    The Conflicts tab helps you identify overlapping utterances used by multiple intents. Such conflicts are visible both in Virtual Agent Designer and NLU Workbench. Resolving these conflicts is important to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of NLU topic discovery, ensuring the virtual agent correctly interprets user input.

    You can edit and refine ServiceNow NLU models from within Virtual Agent Designer. When a conversation topic is bound to an associated NLU model and intent, use the NLU Intent tab to review and edit utterances and associated entities.

    Note:
    An updated Assistant Designer Asset library user interface is available when you install Now Assist in Virtual Agent and turn on the Now Assist Topics skill. This content assumes that you have activated this skill and can see the list view. If this skill is not activated, you see the legacy UI and topics page. For more information, see Virtual Agent Designer legacy topics page.

    If your topic uses NLU discovery, the topic NLU Intent tab appears on the Virtual Agent Designer interface. Test your topic to see the prediction results for topic discovery and the corresponding confidence scores for the results. Depending on the results, you can modify the associated utterances and entities in the NLU model for your topic intent.

    Utterances tab

    Use the Utterances tab to perform the following tasks.

    Table 1. Using the Utterances tab
    I want to... Do this
    Add an utterance Use the Add field to enter an utterance for an intent. Each utterance must be unique and contain fewer than 200 characters.
    Edit an utterance Select the Edit icon next to the utterance.
    Duplicate an utterance Select the Copy icon next to the utterance.
    Move an utterance to another intent Select the Menu icon , and then select Move this utterance to another intent.
    Delete an utterance Select the Menu icon , and then select Delete this utterance.
    Define a new entity
    1. Select a word in an utterance to use as an entity.
    2. In the Create New Entity picker, select the type of entity to be created, such as a simple or system-derived entity.

      For information about the types of entities that you can define, see NLU entities. For information about system entities, see NLU system entities. When you add an entity, it is also displayed in the Associated Entities tab.
    Figure 1. Example utterances on the NLU Intent tab
    Figure 2. Adding entities on the Utterances tab
    Select a word or phrase in an utterance, then use the Create New Entity picker to add an entity related to it.

    Associated Entities tab

    Use the Associated Entities tab to view the entities defined for the intent. Select the name to view the utterances that the entity is associated with.

    Figure 3. Entities defined for an intent named UpdatePhoneNumber
    The Associated Entities sub-tab lists the entities associated with the intent.

    You can also associate system entities, such as date and time, with an intent. For more information about supported system entities, see NLU system entities.

    Conflicts tab

    Use the Conflicts tab to view conflicts among your intents. For example, if two different intents use the same utterance, this will appear as a conflict in both Virtual Agent Designer and NLU Workbench. Identifying and resolving conflicts improves the effectiveness of NLU topic discovery.

    Figure 4. Utterance conflict between two intents
    The Conflicts tab shows problems that may interfere with topic discovery. In this example, two separate intents contain the same utterance.