Everything you need to bring a voice to life and grow it — content, publishing, community, privacy, and cost. No technical knowledge required.
To get started, the first thing you need to do is gather some content that you want your bot to understand.
If you're the content creator: Gather your YouTube videos, blog posts, books—anything you've made that you want your bot to share. Your bot needs content and resources to generate great answers.
If you're not the creator: You'll need permission from the person who made the content. Once you've got the creator's permission, you're good to go.
The second step is to create a "credo" -- this is like a fundamental constitution of your identity. A bit like a one-pager around your core values. We've already started you out with a default credo, but you can customize it however you'd like once you have access to your bot's settings.
Setting up your Bot doesn't take any technical knowledge. Here's a simple way to get started:
Upload one or more documents through your Bot's upload page.
Track the status of that document from the 'Received' to 'Accepted' to 'Processed'. It can take up to two hours to be processed.
Go to your bot's page and ask a question specific to something in your document -- and watch the response!
And you're off to the races. (Tip: if your document is small and not very specific, you will want to remove all other data sources so your data isn't crowded out.)
Once you have this going, next step is to expand your bot's repertoire -- by adding more data, refining your credo, and customizing some of the settings.
You are! You decide what is uploaded to inform your bot's wisdom library. Need help? Drop us a note. We can also connect you to power-users like Rick Archer who has pioneered the BatGapBot and is happy to guide you through individual consultation.
Yes, you can! Feeding your bot PDFs is similar to giving it a library to read from. Questions about copyright? We have good news—as of 2023, it's generally okay for bots like yours to learn from copyrighted content without needing extra permission (this is called "fair use"). Your bot isn't rewriting your books—it's just chatting about them. If you still have concerns, please review this article for a deeper dive into copyright and AI.
You control what users see when you upload files by adjusting the visibility settings:
Example: If your bot quotes your book, it could say, "Learn more on page 45—check it out here."
Turning your videos into bot-ready content is easier than you may think. Here's a breakdown of the process:
Note that Whisper can transcribe a lot of languages, keeping the text in those languages or translating it to English (a Chinese developer tool like 讯飞 may perform better in the Chinese language than Whisper).
This is currently a work in progress. We're working on a way to add time-coded links (like "Watch this at 2:15") to its answers.
For the time being, follow the instructions in this doc on how to make spreadsheets of YouTube video file names and URLs so that the bot can offer time coded video source links. Feel free to skip this section if it's not a priority for you at this time.
For more details on YouTube video processes, check out this document. It covers adding time codes, creating Chapters, and incorporating multi-language translations and dubbing.
That's up to you! Your bot can share its info with other bots in the Compassion Bot network—or borrow from them. For instance:
When you upload content, here's what happens behind the scenes:
Your documents are processed using a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) system. In simple terms:
Think of it like having a smart librarian who knows exactly which pages of your books to reference when answering questions.
Keep it simple:
It's all up to you—no pressure! There's no "not enough content" rule. Even one video or blog post is enough to start.
If a bot is private, only those granted specific access can see it. For public bots, you can choose to share its data corpus with other bots in the network, which most bot owners do.
Batgap Bot integrates other data due to its relevance. However, some bot owners prefer their bots to focus solely on their own content. While they may share their data with others, they do not incorporate external data into their bots.
Please note: Making your bot public is different from making your content public. If your bot is public, anyone who registers on the website can use it. However, access to the content that informs the bot depends on the visibility settings you choose when uploading it.
Public Visibility: Anyone on the web can chat with your bot if they register. You decide if they see your content (e.g., PDFs or transcripts) or just get answers.
One of the biggest advantages of sharing content publicly is increased discoverability. By making your content more accessible—through bite-sized bot responses—you expand its reach. This can serve as an effective marketing tool, bringing more traffic and revenue to your core content offerings without cannibalizing your existing revenue streams.
For independent content creators with limited marketing resources, platforms like Awakin provide a way to gain visibility. Even well-established teachers, such as Sharon Salzberg and Richard Lang (Headless Way), have set up bots to share their wisdom and practices, demonstrating that strategic content sharing can benefit both emerging and prominent voices alike.
If you operate on a gift economy model, there's even more reason to consider an Awakin bot, as it allows you to reach a highly targeted audience while maintaining the integrity of your approach.
When sharing content, privacy and control are key considerations. There are flexible ways to manage this:
By carefully selecting how your content is shared, you can maximize its impact while maintaining control over accessibility and monetization.
If your bot's name defaults to yours (e.g., "SharonBot") but you'd rather honor someone else—like the content creator—here's how:
Think of your bot as a friendly guide who connects you with people who love your work. Here's how to get the word out:
Your bot's insights can be shared across multiple platforms, expanding its reach and engagement. Here are some key places to showcase its wisdom:
Quick Tip: Enhance engagement by pairing a bot-generated response with a link to your YouTube video, book, or other content, driving traffic while providing valuable insights.
Spreading your bot's voice helps your community access the totality of your content, via a simple and interactive interface of a chatbot. The increased usage also allows more derivatives to emerge, like handbooks in different languages or a book of quotes for Gen Z to access your content and more.
Bot Hosts also frequently report that as they get more interactions with their bots, the source links drive more engagement to their books, websites and online engagement platforms.
Yes! While we don't offer direct API access yet, you can:
For implementation details, please contact us.
Yes! If you have a regular blog or content updates, you can simply provide an RSS feed to our Tech Team, and we'll check for daily updates and add new content to your bot.
By default, users need to be logged in to Awakin.ai to access your bot. This is primarily done as a safeguard to prevent abuse for computing resources. (Note: creating a new account is as simple as two clicks.)
For more visible bots with larger reach, we do offer an option to give web users limited access to your bot without having an Awakin.ai account. To explore this option, please drop us a note.
We take your content security seriously. Files are stored on secure AWS servers with encryption, and we never share, sell, or use your content for any purpose other than powering your bot.
Your visibility settings determine exactly what users can access:
Yes, you can visit your bot's Uploads page, click on the 'Edit' icon for any document and adjust the 'Visibility' setting.
If you'd like to globally turn off all citations for all responses, you can also do that by visiting your bot's advanced settings and unchecking the 'Cite sources used to construct responses' option.
When uploading content you want to monetize:
Example: "One paragraph excerpt from your book. View Source [your-amazon-link]."
We're careful about copyright compliance:
No. Here's why:
Your content is stored on:
No—it's free! Your Bot is a gift from the Awakin AI community and our dedicated team of volunteers.
Building something this sophisticated would typically cost in the seven figures, but it is offered to you as a gift, in appreciation for your thoughtful service to the world.
If you are in a position to cover the costs of your own Bot's queries, you can create your own "OpenAI" API Key and enter it in the Advanced Settings section of your Bot's settings.
To pay it forward, you can volunteer your time, donate, or just do an act of kindness for the world. In this giant web of interconnections, we trust that what goes around comes around. :)
Propose a voice and our volunteers will help you shape it — or open your dashboard if you’re already hosting.