AI modes: Autopilot, Copilot, and Off
Every Workspace has an AI responder setting that decides who answers visitors first. There are exactly three modes:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Autopilot | AI answers visitors on its own |
| Copilot | AI drafts, your team sends |
| Off | Humans only |
You may have heard these called “Auto AI” or “AI assist” elsewhere — in Jiviq the names are Autopilot, Copilot, and Off, and those are the words you’ll see in the app.
What is the default mode?
New Workspaces start in Copilot — the AI drafts, but a person sends every reply. Nothing goes to a visitor without a human decision until you choose otherwise.
One exception: Workspaces created before AI modes existed were set to Autopilot, to match how they already behaved. If you’re unsure which mode a Workspace is in, check its AI responder setting — it takes ten seconds and removes the guesswork.
Can I change the AI mode per Workspace?
Yes. The mode is a per-Workspace setting, so one Workspace can run Autopilot while another stays Copilot and a third is Off.
Where to change it:
- Settings → Workspaces, press Manage on a Workspace — the AI responder control, labeled “Who answers first”, with the three options Autopilot / Copilot / Off.
- On newer accounts, the same AI responder card also lives in Chat Studio, on the Identity tab.
Only owners and admins can change a Workspace’s mode. The change takes effect on its own within about a minute — no restart, no re-install.
Autopilot — AI answers visitors on its own
The AI replies to visitors directly, grounded in your Knowledge Base and checked before sending — see How the AI answers. When it cannot answer or the visitor asks for a person, it hands the conversation to your team and you’re notified — see Talking to a human.
Autopilot has one companion setting: “Hand back to AI after (hours)”.
When a teammate replies in a conversation, that conversation becomes theirs
and the AI stays out. This setting is how many quiet hours pass before the
assistant may pick the conversation back up on the visitor’s next message.
0 means never — your team keeps it. The maximum is 168 hours (one week).
Copilot — AI drafts, your team sends
In Copilot the AI never messages a visitor on its own. Your team sends every reply, with the AI doing the drafting work:
- Suggest reply — a button next to the reply box that drafts an answer from your Knowledge Base on demand (owners and admins only). Not seeing it? It’s enabled per account — ask us at support@jiviq.com.
- Automatic drafts — in Copilot the AI prepares a draft as soon as a visitor writes. It appears above the reply box marked “waiting on you”, with three choices: Send (the draft goes out under your sign-off), Edit (the text drops into the reply box for you to change), or Discard.
Either way, a human decides what the visitor reads.
Off — humans only
The AI does not reply and does not draft. Visitors write, your team answers — plain human chat. Turning a Workspace Off is always available, on any plan, at any time.
Per-conversation control
The Workspace mode is the default; any single conversation can differ. Above the reply box in every conversation there’s an AI status pill — it reads “AI · Answering”, “AI · Drafts only”, “AI · Off” (with a note showing whether the setting comes from the Workspace or this conversation), or “AI · Paused — you’re handling”. Team members with write access can click it and pick:
- AI answers this conversation
- AI drafts only — this conversation
- AI off for this conversation
The conversation’s own setting wins over the Workspace mode. The ⋯ menu on a conversation offers the same levers as Return to AI and Disable AI for this conversation.
Modes and plans
- Copilot is included in both plans — Co-Pilot ($19/month) and Auto-Pilot ($49/month).
- Autopilot requires the Auto-Pilot plan ($49/month). On the Co-Pilot plan the app won’t let you switch a Workspace to Autopilot.
- Off is never plan-gated. You can always switch the AI off, on any plan, including after a plan expires.
The 14-day free trial runs with Auto-Pilot plan features, so you can try every mode before choosing a plan. See Billing and plans.