Genie, Discuss’ GenAI assistant empowers research teams worldwide to capture multi-language insights in seconds. This brief guide will provide instructions on how Researchers can take advantage of Discuss's Gen AI assistant for Live Research, Unmoderated Research, and Off-Platform Research. Thanks to our advanced machine translation engine, Insights Agent can generate session summaries in English for any supported language on the platform, giving researchers instant access to research insights across global markets.
Genie Global Coverage
Insights Agent Summaries: Multilingual Insights, Delivered Instantly in English
At Discuss, we use only the most advanced language models available, continuously evaluating and upgrading our tech to deliver industry-leading transcription and translation accuracy. Whether you're working in English, Spanish, or any of our 80+ supported languages, you can trust that your transcripts and Insights Agent summaries are powered by best-in-class language technology.
Language Support
Insights Agent summaries are available for all languages that can be transcribed and translated on the Discuss platform, categorized as follows:
- Tier Premiere – Highest-accuracy support for the most commonly used languages: English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.
- Tier Advanced – Includes additional widely spoken languages across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
- Tier Standard – Support for many regional and less commonly used languages. While still reliable, accuracy may vary based on linguistic complexity and usage patterns.
View the full list of supported languages here
For critical work, we recommend using Tier Premiere or Advanced languages, or choosing our human-powered transcription option for 100% accuracy.
A Note on Unsupported Languages
If a session is conducted in a language that isn’t supported by Discuss’s transcription and translation engine, Insights Agent will not be able to generate a summary.
Data Privacy for Genie
Click here to learn about Data Privacy for Genie Summaries.
Session Recap
Genie automatically generates recaps alongside the transcript of each session on the Recordings page. This applies to Discuss Interviews as well as Off-Platform Research.
To access the Session Recap
- Login to your Discuss account & select your desired project
- Click on the Insights tab, then Recordings
- Locate your desired Interview from the left-hand panel
- Click on the Recap tab, located on the right side of your interview recording.
- View or Copy your Genie Recap by using the copy button.
Genie and Machine-Translated Summaries
Genie supports generating summaries for all session recordings in languages supported by the Discuss platform.
- If the session is in one of Genie's 10 supported languages (English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, or Polish), Genie will generate the summary directly from the meeting room transcript.
- If the session is in another supported language, Genie will use the English transcript created by the machine translation feature to generate the summary.
This ensures that Genie can create summaries even when the session is conducted in a language outside Genie's native support, as long as the Discuss platform can generate a machine translation for that language.
Important: If a session is conducted in an unsupported language and the platform cannot generate a transcript or translation, Genie will not be able to create a summary.
How to Generate a Summary with Genie
For sessions in our supported languages, you can select up to 100 transcripts and ask questions to Genie. You'll receive answers, themes, and quotes that are returned in English.
You can enter the questions that you want Genie to answer. Note that multiple questions can be asked & processed at the same time—but each question should be separate.
Instructions
- Log in to your Discuss account and select your desired project
- Click on the Insights tab, then Summary(1)
- Alternatively, access Summaries from the right-hand panel in your project overview page
- Click on "Start New Summary" from the top right dropdown menu or select a previous summary from the top left dropdown menu.
- Click on "Select Transcript"(2) and choose your desired transcripts
- Keep in mind that any recordings from the Personal Meeting Room will not be included in the summary generation process.
- Add Concepts (3)
- This step is optional, if your project contains different concepts, you can add them here to help identify the responses to each concept. Eg. multiple ads, products, logos, or messages. Simply enter a label and a short description for each concept and ensure those labels are used by the moderators during the interviews.
- Add your burning questions (4) or select questions from your discussion guide
- This step is optional, you can also generate a transcript without asking specific questions
- Add your Research Objective(5), which should detail the essence of your project.
- Click on Generate your summary!
After running the questions, you will be able to add a new question. Simply select the “+ Add New Question” button at the bottom of the page to add a new question and generate a new answer.
You can add up to 40 questions per summary.
Cross-Project Summaries for Recordings
Researchers can combine transcripts from multiple projects into a single summary without duplicating files or losing context.
Selecting transcripts
View and include sessions from any project where you have researcher access. Visibility follows organization and project permissions.
Use the session search to find interviews by Project Name or Interview Name.
Select up to 100 transcripts for a single summary to support broader cross-project analysis.
Sessions imported to more than one project appear as selectable in both the source and destination projects.
Working with imported recordings
Imported recordings play in the Genie viewer and retain full transcript metadata, including interview name and speaker roles.
Every imported transcript is labeled with its original Project Name so researchers can see the source at a glance.
Keyword search returns matches across all projects you can access.
Clips, edits, and limits
To create clips, import the recording into the current project using the Import button. Recordings must be imported before clips can be created.
Clips and tags do not transfer between projects; clips created in the destination project remain there.
Transcript edits are global. If a transcript appears in multiple projects, edits made in one place apply to all instances. A warning appears before editing.
Best practices
Use the Sources list in the Summary view to identify cross-project items.
Rely on metadata and role labels to preserve context when working with unfamiliar transcripts.
Coordinate with teammates to avoid editing conflicts on shared recordings.
Labeling Concepts for Genie
If your research includes concept testing—such as different ads, messages, or designs—make sure concepts are clearly and consistently labeled across interviews. This helps Genie identify and compare them effectively.
You can label concepts in several ways:
- Upload-media filenames: Name files with clear labels when sharing stimuli (e.g., “Concept A – 30s Video”). These filenames are injected into the transcript and link to the relevant discussion.
- Verbal call-outs: Ask moderators to announce each concept during the session (e.g., “Now let’s look at Concept B”).
- Post-session transcript edits: Add text markers like <<Concept C starts>> if a concept wasn’t labeled live.
- Summary setup labeling: In the Summary setup, enter the name and a brief description for each concept (e.g., “Concept C = eco-friendly pack design”). This provides additional context for analysis.
Tip: Use the same concept names across all interviews for consistency. This improves accuracy when Genie identifies and compares concepts.
Asking Concept Questions
Once concepts are labeled, you can ask Genie to analyze reactions and draw comparisons:
- “Focus on Concept A. How did respondents react?”
- “Which concept had the most positive reactions?”
- “Rank the concepts by overall sentiment and explain why.”
- “There were 3 concepts shown: Concept A, Concept B, Concept C. What were the positive reactions to each?”
- “Identify every concept mentioned and summarise the key reactions to each.”
Writing Effective Questions
Genie is designed to help you quickly uncover key insights from your research sessions. Writing clear, well-targeted questions helps Genie deliver the most relevant answers, themes, and quotes.
Use the following best practices to get the most out of your Genie summaries:
- Enter one question per text box. While Genie can process multiple questions at once, each question must be entered separately in its own field.
- Phrase questions about what was said, not what wasn’t. Genie performs best when analyzing explicit content from the transcript, rather than identifying what participants may have omitted.
- Use questions from your discussion guide. Pulling questions directly from your guide ensures alignment with your interview structure and improves the clarity of analysis.
- Avoid quantitative questions. Genie is not designed to calculate averages, percentages, or perform numeric analysis. It is optimized for summarizing qualitative feedback.
Good examples:
“What were respondent perceptions of my product?”
“Which concept had the most positive reactions?”
“What were negative reactions to my brand?”
“What suggestions did respondents give to improve our message?”
Less effective:
“Did anyone fail to mention price?”
“What percentage of respondents liked Concept A?”
Structuring for Segment Comparisons
To compare insights across groups, regions, or demographics, structure your project to include segment details:
- Include segment names in interview titles (e.g., “Japan – Interview 07”, “US – Interview 12”).
- Use standardized tags such as “Gen Z”, “Millennial”, “Boomer”, etc.
- Compare 2–4 segments at a time for clearer, more actionable results.
Example comparison question:
“Compare reactions between the US and Japan segments.”
For a more detailed guide on how to write you Genie question please refer to this article Insights Agent: Best Practices for Asking Research Questions with Genie
Research Objective Guideline
The summary focus should include details about your project it serves as a guiding beacon for Genie. It incorporates pivotal details about the project, thus instructing Genie on what to prioritize when making transcripts into summaries.
Picture a lengthy transcript from a focus group discussing a new product. If you're mainly interested in the challenges and recommendations, specifying this in the Summary Focus will ensure your summary is tailored to that theme.
- To optimize results, frame your Summary Focus to complete the statement: “My summary should focus on ... ”
-
- Food Delivery App Study: “My summary should focus on opinions and preferences for food delivery apps.”
- Ad Campaign Analysis for XYZ Brand: “My summary should focus on reactions to different messages in the ad campaign.”
- Product Feedback for ABC Brand: “My summary should focus on challenges encountered with the product and recommendations for enhancing the user experience.”
Brevity is Key - it might be tempting to list out everything, but it's vital to keep your focus concise. This clarity ensures that Genie remains on point.
Inclusivity - Your focus can touch upon several elements. You might, for example, want your summary to consider both preferences and challenges.
Steer Clear of Segment Overload - It's best not to include segment information unless it's a significant part of your transcript.
By clearly communicating what's crucial in a transcript, you can now harness Genie's power more effectively, obtaining summaries that resonate with your specific goals.
Themes, Quotes, and Overview
Once a question is asked or a summary is generated you have access to 3 tabs.
There will be a narrative summary that pulls from all the transcripts selected (overview tab). The themes list highlights the top themes in the sessions and pulls key quotes (themes tab). All questions are answered with a summary and quotes pulled from the transcript (your questions tab)
If you want to delete a question, feel free to click on the 3dot menu located in the answer modal.
You can take advantage of your Gen AI by adding summary quotes to highlight reels or generating clips from relevant themes provided by Genie.
- Simply click on your desired quote under the "Your Questions" or "Themes" tab
- Click on "Play"
- Click on "Create Clip"
Edit or Download Summary
When a GenAI summary is generated, project owners, editors & collaborators have more options.
From the change summary dropdown menu, they can:
- Start a new Summary.
- Rename Summary
- Change Research Objective
- Delete Summary
- Deleting a session recording will also delete all related summaries to that session.
From the download dropdown menu, they can:
- Download Everything
- Download Themes only
- Download Quotes only
- Download Overview only
Summaries are downloaded in a .docx format
Genie for Off-Platform Research
To Summarize Off-Platform Research, simply :
Self-Paced Summaries With Genie
With our Self-Paced (Self-Captures) Summaries, you can now get rich, quote-backed insights across any set of Video or Text Tasks or Activities.
Self-Paced Summary Format
A summary is a detailed, written answer to a specific research question, pulled directly from your participants’ responses. It includes:
- A clear answer to your question
- A set of direct quotes from respondents that support the answer
- A timestamp that includes the number of responses and tasks included in the summary
- The Sources link will show which Tasks and Activities were included in the summary
All quotes are reviewed for accuracy, and non-English responses are translated to English.
How Self-Paced Summaries Work
- Navigate to the Summary tab.
- Select Tasks or Activities from your Self-Captures library.
- Choose (or write) your Burning Question or choose a question from the Frequently Asked Questions.
- Generate the Summary.
Note: A Self-Paced Summary can include up to 500 responses. We recommend narrowing your selection to stay within this limit.
Data Visualization for Open-Ended Self-Paced Responses
Data Visualizations make it easy to spot patterns across AI interviews and open-ended responses. Responses are grouped into themes and shown in simple charts. Click into any theme to see the quotes and clips behind it.
Use this to quickly see what’s coming up most, check the evidence without manual work, and share clear visuals with your team.
Who it’s for & why
- Who: Researchers, insights managers, and marketing stakeholders who present findings.
- Why: Faster path from raw responses to a meeting-ready view. Easier stakeholder reviews because every theme links to evidence.
Prerequisites
- You have access to Genie and the Insight Agent
- Data Visualization is available for Self-Paced Feedback Summaries
- You have access to the project, and the Self-Paced Task contains open-ended responses.
- You have the appropriate role within the project to view the Summary Tab.
Getting started: step-by-step
- Open your project that contains Self-Paced Activities.
- Navigate to the Insights / Summary page
- Create a Self-Paced Feedback Summary.
- Select your Activity or Tasks, and enter your questions. Then click the “Generate Summary” button
- Click the Task Summaries tab. The chart will render categories with counts and percentages.
- Hover or focus a bar to see the label, count, and percent.
- Click a bar to open the Quotes panel for that category.
- Scan quotes. Select Show more on long entries.
- Click a quote’s link to view the source clip, when available.
- Click View All to all quotes associated with the category.
- Use quotes and videos for reporting.
Note: Close-ended items, image uploads, and numeric questions are currently not included in this view.
What you’ll see
-
Category bar-chart. 2–10 categories with counts and percentages.
- Genie will evaluate all Responses within the Task
- The bar chart will display percentages of Responses that were identified for that particular category. Each Category is evaluated against all Task Responses.
- Genie identifies supporting Quote(s) from the Responses. Each Response may produce multiple Quotes. Quotes are displayed in the Top Quotes Section and support the associated Category.
- Quote panel. Ranked, representative Quotes for each category with links to source clips are displayed in the Top Quotes Section.
Summaries. Summaries are provided on the Task level and the Category level to provide deeper insights into the data.
Examples & Visuals
Cross-Project Summaries for Self-Paced Activities
Researchers can include Self-Paced tasks and activities from multiple projects in Self-Paced summaries while preserving activity context and source metadata.
Selecting tasks and activities
Access tasks and activities from any project where you are a researcher; results are filtered by organization.
Tasks are grouped by Activity, so you can import a single task or the entire activity.
Search by Project, Activity, or Task Name to find items quickly.
When you select one task, the entire activity imports to preserve context for responses and quotes.
Quotes and metadata
Quotes from other projects include metadata that identifies their project and the activity of origin.
Each imported task or activity is labeled with its original Project Name for clarity.
For Self-Paced summaries, stay within recommended response limits to ensure accurate results.
Best practices
Check the Sources list to see which tasks come from other projects.
Use metadata and activity grouping to maintain clarity when assembling cross-project task summaries.
Coordinate with teammates to prevent conflicts when multiple researchers work on shared activities.
Dive Into the Details
Click any quote to view full context and open the original task or clip.
Imported tasks and quotes can be used to create highlight reels and to trace insights back to their source.
Segmentation and Cross-Group Comparisons
To compare responses across audience segments, structure your interviews and labeling carefully:
- Include segment names in interview titles (e.g., “Japan – Interview 07”, “US – Interview 12”).
- Use short, standardized segment tags such as “Gen Z”, “Millennial”, “Boomer”.
- Compare no more than 2–4 segments at a time for the clearest, most useful insights.
- Once segments are properly labeled, ask Genie: “Compare reactions between the US and Japan segments.”
Following these updated best practices will help Genie deliver deeper, more accurate insights from your qualitative research.
Self-Paced Summary Segmentation
When running Self-Paced Summaries, it's important to include segment labels in the correct places so Genie can differentiate responses:
- In source data: Include the segment name in the Activity or Task title (e.g., “Japan – Activity 1”).
- For Human-Led summaries: Use segment labels in the interview titles.
- For Self-Paced summaries: Label each Activity or Task with the appropriate segment.
- Use consistent, short segment names such as “Gen Z”, “Millennial”, “Boomer”.
- Limit comparisons to 2–4 segments at once for clarity.
- When selecting interviews, activities, or tasks for analysis, only include those that belong to the segments you want to compare.
- Once segment titles are in place, ask: “Compare reactions between the US and Japan segments.”
Following these updated best practices will help Genie deliver deeper, more accurate insights from your qualitative research.