With Autopilot, creating courses faster and achieving better results is easier than ever. In this article, you’ll discover a series of practical tips to help you optimize the process and easily adapt the content to your needs.
Below, we’re sharing some key recommendations to help you make the most of the full potential of automatic course generation and achieve better results from the very beginning with each mode.
In this article
Before you start: Prepare your file
A clear structure helps Autopilot identify which information is important and how the different pieces of content relate to one another.
Uploaded file
To create a properly organized outline, the AI needs to identify the structure of the document.
Use a maximum of three hierarchical levels: document title, sections, and subsections.
Maintain a coherent and consistent structure throughout the document.
Whenever possible, number the sections and subsections (for example, 1, 1.1). This is one of the most reliable signals for the AI to correctly interpret the organization of the content.
👉If you work with Word:
Organize the content using Word’s built-in headings (Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3).
These are the styles that Word recognizes as part of the document structure and uses, for example, to automatically generate a table of contents.
You can easily check whether you’re using them correctly:
In Word, go to View > Navigation Pane.
Select Headings in the panel that appears on the left.
Check that your headings and subheadings appear there with the hierarchy you expect.
If they appear correctly organized in this panel, Word is recognizing them as headings and Autopilot will be better able to identify the document structure.
⚠️ Increasing the size of text, making it bold, or changing its color does not turn it into a heading. Use the Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles to define the structure.
👉If you work with PDF:
Make sure the document has a clear structure and avoid overly complex hierarchies.
Numbering such as 1 and 1.1 is usually easier to interpret than deeper structures such as 3.2.1, which in some cases may cause Autopilot to simplify the organization of the content.
Regarding the images in your file, the AI may not correctly interpret their content, so it’s recommended that all relevant information be in text format.
👉If you work with a PowerPoint presentation (PPTX):
Currently, PPTX files are not directly supported through this Autopilot method. If your content is in PowerPoint, you have two alternatives:
Use PPTX import. See this help article to learn how it works.
Change the format to Word and prepare it according to the recommendations above.
Make the content easier to read
Whenever possible, make sure important information is available as text and not only within images, since Autopilot may not correctly interpret all of their content.
⚠️If your document contains images with relevant text, converting it to PDF may make it easier to read.
It’s also recommended to avoid excessively long, large, or fragmented files. If the document produces an error during processing, try to clean it up, shorten it, or simplify it: remove unnecessary elements, group related content, or, if necessary, convert it to Word and structure the content according to the recommendations above.
Exercises and games
You don’t need to include questions, tests, or activities in the original document. Autopilot can generate them during course creation and, once the course has been generated, you can edit and customize them.
That said, if you include a game or exercise within a section, make sure there are subsections with enough content, since Autopilot will use that information to generate it.
Remember that the information used to generate them will be taken from there.
Strict document
To have the AI generate a well-structured course with the best possible results using strict mode, we recommend following these best practices.
Use the Strict document option when you want the course to follow the structure of the original document. In this mode, the organization of the file is key, since Autopilot will use it as a guide to create the course outline.
To organize the hierarchy of your content, we recommend:
- Use a maximum of three hierarchical levels: document title, sections, and subsections.
- Maintain the same structural logic from beginning to end.
- Whenever possible, number the sections and subsections, for example, 1 or 1.1.
- If you work with Word, use Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3.
‼️Think of your document structure as Autopilot’s map: the clearer and more organized it is, the better it will be able to turn your content into a course.
Document interpretation
With this option, Autopilot uses both the file content and the instructions you write in the prompt to create the course.
Prompt
The more precise your instructions are, the more closely the result will match them. For example, you can specify how many sections you want or which content should be removed.
Here are some examples:
“Create a welcome course for new employees in two sections.”
“Create a course for new employees by removing all information related to internal policies.”
‼️You don’t need to write a very long prompt. The important thing is to make it clear what you want Autopilot to do differently from the original document.
Avoid hyper-fragmentation
If the document is divided into many small blocks, the course may end up with sections that are too short or underdeveloped.
Try to group related content into more complete blocks to help Autopilot generate a more natural structure.
Introductions and conclusions
You don’t need to add them explicitly: Autopilot can generate them automatically.
If they already exist in the document, you don’t need to remove them either. You can review and adjust the result once the course has been generated.
Exercises and games
Create subsections with content. Make sure the section contains subsections with information. This means that within the section where you include a game or exercise, you must also add subsections with the content you want to appear in those games and exercises.
Remember that the information used to generate them will be taken from there.
If something doesn’t turn out as expected...
We recommend that you always review these steps to achieve the best results when creating your projects with Autopilot:
- The structure: in Word, check under View > Navigation Pane > Headings that the headings are correctly organized.
- The hierarchy: avoid too many levels or complex structures.
- Fragmentation: group small blocks that are part of the same content.
- File size and complexity: remove unnecessary elements, simplify the document, and shorten it if it’s very long.
- The format: if it continues to cause problems, try transferring the content to Word and structuring it with its built-in headings.
- The prompt: in Document interpretation, try to be more specific about the structure or content you want to obtain.
👉If you want to learn more about how to configure your courses using Autopilot, you can consult this article, where we explain step by step everything you need to get it ready and start using it easily.