7 Ways to Bring Your Drupal Site the Next Level and Beyond

Takeaway: AI integration with Drupal has rapidly moved beyond basic chatbots to offer transformative possibilities for websites across various sectors. From ChatGPT-powered search and content generation to Azure Cognitive Services for image recognition and NLP-enhanced search functionality, Drupal AI applications are revolutionizing how sites deliver personalized experiences, create content, and process information.

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2023 is shaping up as the year that the concept of artificial intelligence catapulted past the hype and into the mainstream of life and work—as well as Drupal AI integration and Drupal development.

Two of the most ubiquitous examples of how to use AI in Drupal are voice-activated assistants such as Siri and Alexa, and chatbots offering conversational text exchanges to help users find information or navigate a site.

A far-reaching process that integrates massive quantities of data for correlations and patterns, AI in Drupal development taps into many disciplines and is characterized by:

• An ability to learn and get smarter with data acquired from every interaction, based on rules, called algorithms, which provide instructions for finding answers or solving problems;
• Cognitive capabilities for selecting the appropriate algorithms;
• Creative potential, also known as generative AI, draws upon multiple AI systems to generate unique images, content, audio, videos, simulations, and code. 

Although AI still has limitations (and AI won't replace developers right now), we expect that the research and resources currently being poured into its development will just propel its advancement. That means it's part of our present and our future, and is worth exploring right now.

Here are seven ways to use AI with your Drupal website.

1. Beyond the basic chatbot

The Drupal Chatbot module uses Dialogflow as its NLP (Natural Language Processing) agent. It enables the setup of a text or voice-enabled chatbot, interacting with the user as a connector between Drupal and NLP. It can be extended to accommodate additional functions that include Search by Title, Latest Articles Search, and Latest Pages—enhancing Drupal capabilities for user engagement.

ChatGPT is the source of much of the current excitement surrounding AI. A free chatbot developed by OpenAI and designed to generate an answer to virtually any question thrown its way, ChatGPT was released in November 2022, and more than 1 million people signed up to use it within five days.

Next-level ChatGPT Drupal AI applications are now available within Drupal.

2. Drupal search integration with ChatGPT

OpenAI is enabling ChatGPT search integration with Drupal. While this capability is still in its alpha version, it is on a rapid evolution trajectory. Some of the interesting features/sub-modules that are available: 

• Openai_ckeditor adds a CKEditor button to insert prompts and get text completions back from OpenAI as a typing assistant.
• Openai_chatgpt leverages ChatGPT for editorial advice.
• Openai_content adds a "Summarize" and "Suggest taxonomy" feature on nodes to help generate summaries and potential taxonomy terms to categorize the page, serving as a valuable jumpstart for content editors.

3. Generative AI for Drupal image creation

AI in Drupal is transforming possibilities for images, known as “asset” in the language of Drupal.

Below is an example of an AI-generated image.

A search within Canva for college-going multi skin color students with happy faces and books in hand resulted in a realistic AI-generated image—not actual human faces—that fit the description.

Another example of an AI-powered image search via Canva: tree leaves orange and yellow color in a forest in morning sunshine.

Three additional text-to-image AI tools: 

• Dall-E2 is an AI system that can create unique, high-quality, and realistic images from text. 
• Simplified is another AI text-to-art generation tool that points to its applicability for social media posts, advertisements, blogs, and handbook covers. 
• NightCafe promotes possibilities for “creating a masterpiece,” leveraging a wide range of AI techniques, including Neural Style Transfer. 

4. AI for content creation

Another entire Drupal AI frontier is content creation.

Jasper is among a host of emerging AI tools designed to generate content that can populate web pages and accelerate the creation of social posts, along with an array of other content-related functions.

Textmetrics (formerly webtexttool) is an AI-powered tool designed to create search engine optimized web content, with real-time suggestions for writing quality content that aligns with the needs and interests of the target audience.

It's a perfect example of how to use AI in Drupal to enhance content strategy.

5. Broad scope of cognitive capabilities

Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services integrates machine learning APIs through the Azure Cognitive Services API to enable Drupal developers to integrate features such as emotions; facial, speech, and vision recognition; and speech and language understanding into Drupal applications. Specific modules enabled by this API:

• Face API Module
• Emotion Recognition API Module
• Computer Vision API Module
• Azure Text Analytics API Module

6. Alternative text

The Drupal Automatic Alternative Text module leverages the Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services API to generate an image caption when no Alternative Text has been provided—identifying dominant and accent color and describing an image with complete English sentences. This demonstrates how AI in Drupal can improve accessibility.

7. Enhanced search

Search API Solr NLP adds some new full-text field types to Solr config sets. The resulting data stored in the index is a great source for features like auto-complete or spell check.

Get to the next level and beyond with Promet Source

Rapid evolutions within the wide-ranging AI field are sparking transformative possibilities for Drupal sites and all digital capabilities. On the front lines of what’s new and next, we at Promet Source can help you explore how AI can transform your Drupal site—whether it's through our existing AI solutions or a custom one.

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