We've done it! Vet-curated OpenAI is here.

Very soon (if they aren’t already), your clients will be turning to OpenAI for answers to their veterinary queries.

But what if you could provide them with an AI-powered conversation tailored to their needs, direct from you, your trusted veterinary clinic?

Now you can. Because Virtual Vet Nurse has just released a ground-breaking new solution called ‘vet-curated OpenAI’.

This blog explains what it is, why it’s exciting, and how your clinic can get it.

What is vet-curated OpenAI?

Vet-curated OpenAI has been developed by the team at Virtual Vet Nurse. We’ve been working on this for more than a year. For the background and reasons why we’ve done it, check out our blog from 2023.

So, what is it exactly?

Let’s start with the way standard AI conversations work (the likes of ChatGPT). It creates conversations by searching from everywhere; including information that is potentially inaccurate or misleading.

By comparison, our vet-curated OpenAI does not search from ‘everywhere’. Instead, it creates its conversations from quality information resources that are both veterinary-approved and, here’s the really exciting part, specifically relevant to your clinic.

To create vet-curated OpenAI, we’ve used a technique called Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). In plain English, RAG is basically a way to ‘ring-fence’ the sources AI gets its information from.

That’s enough technical explanation for now. Let’s get into how it works for your clinic.

Why is this so exciting?

Your clients will soon be turning to OpenAI to ask veterinary questions, in the same way they’ve been chatting to Dr Google for years.

But as we know, both Google and now AI platforms (like ChatGPT) do not involve your clinic in the discussion.

Until now. Our vet-curated OpenAI solution allows your clients to have an AI conversation directly with your clinic.

It’s easier to explain with a simple example.

Let’s say your client wants to use OpenAI to ask: “What’s the ideal weight for my beagle?”

They have two options.

Firstly, they can have that conversation on any OpenAI platform. But just like the traditional Google search, this effectively cuts your clinic out of the discussion.

Or, they could have that same conversation with your clinic’s Virtual Vet Nurse, who will use vet-curated OpenAI. This time, your clinic is actually a partner in the conversation.

A real-life example

The screenshots below explain what we mean.

When we ask ChatGPT ‘what’s the ideal weight for my beagle’, they provide a correct answer. (But of course, we have no idea ‘who’ is answering!)

Now we ask the same question of ‘Abi’, who is a Virtual Vet Nurse working at one of our clinics in Australia.

Abi starts the conversation in a similar way – but she goes on to provide so much more information. And here’s the critical difference: the client knows they are having this conversation with their own veterinary hospital.

On behalf of her hospital, Abi offers a range of vet-approved information resources (including digital brochures and videos on weight management).

Next, Abi also offers to help the client complete and send a body condition score card for their pet, which she will forward to her hospital’s team to review.

These screenshots only show a fraction of the conversations Abi can have with the client. She can seamlessly help them make a booking, take a pre-visit history, send a message to her hospital team, or complete any of the client-friendly workflows.

While on the subject of weight, Abi can also help the client shop for nutrition products via her hospital’s retail shop. Clients can purchase either by click and collect, or sales can be integrated with the clinic’s own online retail partner (if they have one).

And just like any well-trained front-desk professional, Abi knows her limits!

She is trained to defer to her hospital team when she does not know the answer. In addition, the client can opt to speak to a human at the front desk at any time, or send a message to the team.

Can you see the difference?

With Virtual Vet Nurse vet-curated OpenAI, your client gets more value from the conversation – targeted advice, offers of practical actions (e.g get a body condition score), and next-steps guidance from your clinic (e.g make a booking, ask the team a question, shop products).

They won’t get any of that from asking an OpenAI platform.

For both your clients and your clinic, it’s a win-win.

Of course, weight management is just one example. Your Virtual Vet Nurse can do the same for any other topic or typical client query.

The technical explanation

Since ChatGPT first emerged in early 2023, the Virtual Vet Nurse team has been working on vet-curated OpenAI. We saw the huge potential of OpenAI platforms – and knew they would soon replace traditional search.

So our quest became: how can we leverage the power of OpenAI in a way that promotes and protects the vet-client relationship?

When your client asks: “What is the ideal weight for a beagle?” your Virtual Vet Nurse is programmed to find the answer from the following sources:

1. The information that has been scripted to your Virtual Vet Nurse and written by us in its central brain; as well as:
2. Using OpenAI to retrieve veterinary approved information using RAG (that is also relevant to your geographical area, and/or practice type); followed by:
3. Other relevant information from your clinic’s website and other client resources you want to provide (such as pdfs), also using RAG. This is our bespoke level.

The beauty of the bespoke level is that your Virtual Vet Nurse can have generative AI conversations about your clinic’s specific offerings and preferences.

For example, Sydney Animal Hospitals offer a specialist surgical procedure known as a TTA . Their Virtual Vet Nurse, Ginny, can have a generative AI conversation with their clients on this topic, using accurate information sourced from the hospital’s website.

How can my clinic get vet-curated OpenAI?

Vet-curated OpenAI is optional as part of your Virtual Vet Nurse subscription.

So if you haven’t already, you simply need to onboard your own Virtual Vet Nurse. You’ll be joining the growing number of Virtual Vet Nurses working in clinics around the world – in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa.

To get an overview of how Virtual Vet Nurse works in practice, check out this blog from one of our clinics in Canada.

In the coming weeks, we will be offering vet-curated OpenAI to every Virtual Vet Nurse client, as an option to switch on. This is offered as a free upgrade as part of our standard monthly subscription. Note: if you also want to include bespoke content retrieved from your clinic’s website, there is an additional cost.

Priority will be given to our existing Virtual Vet Nurse clients, followed by newly-onboarded clients.

We’re predicting high demand, so we invite you to book a demo with one of our team today.

Image from Unsplash Artem Beliaikin