Smart Picks (Open Beta)

Overview

Smart Picks is an AI-powered search enhancement that surfaces semantically relevant content directly inside the search dropdown as you type. Rather than relying solely on keyword matching, it understands the meaning behind your query and finds content that genuinely fits — even if the words don't match exactly.

When you start typing in the search bar at the top of the page, Smart Picks results appear at the top of the dropdown alongside your standard search results. Each set of results includes a short natural-language summary to help you understand why those items were surfaced. Up to five results are shown, covering Items, Learnlists, and Channels from your library.

Smart Picks is part of the Open Beta for Volt content creation agents. Your account's content must be indexed before Smart Picks will become active — see Pre-requisites for details.

Functionality Breakdown

• Semantic search: Results are matched by meaning, not just keywords, so a query like "becoming a better communicator" can surface relevant content even if the exact phrase doesn't appear in any title

• Runs in parallel: Smart Picks works alongside the standard keyword search — both run simultaneously, so your usual search results are never delayed or replaced

• Up to 5 results: A maximum of five semantically relevant results are shown per query, drawn from Items, Learnlists, and Channels

• Natural-language summary: A short sentence accompanies each set of results to help contextualise the suggestions (e.g. "Here are a few things from your library that look like a strong fit for your query")

• Graceful fallback: If no strong semantic matches are found, the Smart Picks section is hidden entirely — you'll just see the standard search results as normal

• Direct links: Each result row shows a thumbnail, title, and content type label, and clicking it takes you straight to that content

• Query handling: Queries up to 500 characters are fully supported. Longer queries are silently trimmed — you won't see an error, and the search will still run

Pre-requisites

Before Smart Picks will appear in your account, the following must be in place:

• Volt AI Indexing must be enabled — an Owner or Admin needs to turn on content indexing from the AI Features settings. Without indexing, there is no semantic content library to search against

• Content must be indexed — indexing runs automatically once enabled, but newly added content may take a short time to become searchable via Smart Picks

• The Smart Picks feature must be active for your account — this is controlled at the platform level as part of the Volt Open Beta

💡 If you believe your account should have access to Smart Picks but it isn't showing, check with your account Owner to confirm that AI content indexing is enabled.

Role Requirements

Quick Start Guide

1. Click the search icon at the top of the page

2. Begin typing your search query into the search field

3. After a brief moment, the dropdown will populate — Smart Picks results appear at the top, above the standard keyword results

4. Review the natural-language summary and the suggested content items

5. Click any result to go directly to that content

💡 Try searching with a broad or descriptive phrase rather than just a keyword — Smart Picks is designed to understand intent, so phrases like "leadership for new managers" or "getting started with data" tend to surface great results.

FAQs

Q: Why can't I see Smart Picks in my search dropdown?

Smart Picks requires AI content indexing to be enabled for your account, and your content must have been indexed. If you're not seeing Smart Picks results, check with an Owner or Admin to confirm that AI Features are switched on. It's also possible there were no strong semantic matches for your query — in that case, the section is simply hidden rather than showing low-confidence results.

Q: Does Smart Picks replace my normal search results?

No. Smart Picks runs in parallel with keyword search and appears in a separate section at the top of the dropdown. Your standard search results are always shown beneath it and are never removed or delayed.

Q: What types of content does Smart Picks return?

Smart Picks can surface Items, Learnlists, and Channels from your library. Only content that is active, visible, and not archived will appear in results.

Q: Can I search with a long query or paste in a paragraph?

Yes — queries up to 500 characters are fully supported. If you paste something longer, it will be trimmed silently and the search will still run normally.

Q: Do I need a specific role to use Smart Picks?

No. All authenticated users can see and interact with Smart Picks results. There are no role restrictions on the search experience itself.

Q: How is Smart Picks different from a standard keyword search?

Standard search looks for matching words and phrases in titles and metadata. Smart Picks uses AI to understand the meaning of your query and find content that's conceptually relevant — so it can surface a course on "conflict resolution" in response to a search for "dealing with difficult conversations", even if those specific words don't appear in the course title.

Q: Is Smart Picks available to all users on my account?

Once content indexing is enabled and the feature is active for your account, yes — all authenticated users will see Smart Picks results in the search dropdown.

Troubleshooting