Chat assistant that understands text, images, and PDFs

A conversational AI assistant that reads uploaded images and PDFs and answers questions about them.

How the work actually flows

It branches. Exactly one path is taken.

Pattern: Exclusive Choice (4) · Simple Merge (5)

flowchart TD trig(("user starts a conversation")):::human s0(("start conversation")):::human s1["answer using message and file"]:::svc s2[("remember conversation history")]:::store trig --> s0 s1 --> s2 gx{"× was a file uploaded"}:::gate s0 --> gx p00["ai reads image or pdf"]:::task gx -->|"file included"| p00 p10["proceed with text only"]:::task gx -->|"no file"| p10 jn{"○ answer question"}:::gate p00 --> jn p10 --> jn jn --> s1 out[/"ai answers about uploaded files"/]:::out pay{{"reduce manual support handling"}}:::pay s2 --> out out --> pay classDef task fill:#e7f6fe,stroke:#34b8f0,color:#2c2a29 classDef svc fill:#f6f8fa,stroke:#7c8795,color:#2c2a29 classDef mi fill:#e7f6fe,stroke:#0079a8,color:#2c2a29,stroke-width:2px classDef human fill:#fff,stroke:#0079a8,color:#0079a8 classDef store fill:#f6f8fa,stroke:#0079a8,color:#2c2a29 classDef trig fill:#00a4eb,stroke:#0079a8,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef trigtime fill:#00a4eb,stroke:#0079a8,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef trigdata fill:#8ad4f5,stroke:#0079a8,color:#06314c,font-weight:bold classDef gate fill:#fff,stroke:#e8a23d,color:#6b4708,font-weight:bold classDef out fill:#1f9d6b,stroke:#167a53,color:#fff,font-weight:bold classDef pay fill:#06314c,stroke:#021f33,color:#fff
An outside serviceA personA record or sheetOne path onlyPaths rejoinResultPayoff
Build size
Advanced

A larger build with multiple systems, AI reasoning, and custom rules.

Business functions
AI Agents & Autonomous SystemsAI Chatbots & AssistantsDocument Processing & OCR
Connects
OpenAI

The problem it solves

Your customers or team members send questions along with screenshots, photos, or PDFs, but a typical chatbot can only read plain text. That means someone has to step in manually whenever a file gets involved.

Who it fits

Businesses that want a chat assistant for support or internal use that can also handle uploaded files and images.

How it works

  1. A person starts a conversation and can type a message or upload an image or PDF
  2. If a file is included, AI reviews it and describes or reads its content
  3. AI answers the person's question using both the message and the file content
  4. The conversation is remembered so follow-up questions make sense
What you get

Questions answered about any file you upload

You upload an image or PDF and get answers about it right in the conversation, with context remembered for follow-ups.

What you get

A natural, ongoing conversation that can also explain and answer questions about uploaded files.

What you need

An OpenAI API key.

We can build this. But should you?

The hard question is not how to build it. It is whether this is the right thing to build first.

That is what a Fractional Chief AI Officer figures out with you, before anyone writes a line of code.

Let's Talk Strategy

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