Q&A Artificial Intelligence Visual in Power BI

The Q&A visual in Power BI allows user to give answer for a natural language in the form of a visual. We can convert the Q&A visualization to a standard visual. It can interact, cross filter, support bookmarks. We can create these visual in both Power BI desktop and Power BI Services. Q&A visual is very useful for business user to quickly identified questions to ask.

To add the visual to the report we need to just click on the Q&A icon from visualization pane and Q&A visual will be open with suggested questions. Main part for Q&A visual are:

Question box
Suggested questions
Icon to convert the Q&A visual into a standard visual.
Tooling Icon to open Q&A setup.

Select any suggested question and click on that question, automatically it will display a visualization with result. We can type our own questions in input box, and it will automatically populate the input box with that question and show its result.

Select ‘Total sales by city’

It will select best chart for question, we can suggest any chart type to like line, bar chart.

Automatically map visualization is selected as Q&A will select best possible chart for question, if we don’t want to continue with default chart, we can suggest any chart type too like line, bar chart.

We have Q&A format options under formatting pane:

We can format question and suggested questions using format options:

Selected question will disappear when Suggestion option made off from formatting pane:

let’s discuss about main part of the visual

Information icon gives statement as a tooltip about the question.

Hover over info icon > it will display information about chart:

Tooling Icon to open Q&A setup:

Click on tooling icon > it will direct to the Q&A set up:

Icon to convert the Q&A visual into a standard visual:

Click on this icon:

This is a standard cluster bar chart.

Q&A Set up:

we can open tooling setting from:

Report view > Modelling menu > Q&A setup
Model view > Home menu > Q&A set up
And Tooling icon from visual itself > Q&A setup

From report view:

From Model view:

From visual:

Teach Q&A to understand questions and terms in Power BI Q&A.

In Teach Q&A section we can make Q&A to understand questions and terms it hasn’t understand.

when we start typing question in question box, it will provide more potential suggestion to complete the question.

Once we complete our question, we may have blue or red under line for few words.

Blue is for that Q&A has recognised that word and red is for not recognising the word. When we double click the word with red under line it will provide potential suggestion for that word and option to Define the word for Q&A visual.

Teach Q&A:

In this section of Q&A setup, we instruct Q&A to understand natural-language questions and words that Q&A doesn’t recognized. We submit our word or question that Q&A didn’t recognised.

Let’s have an example:

Type ‘total sales for Furnishingmode’ in question box:

Click the word ‘Furnishingmode’:

Select ‘define Furnishingmode option. It will open Q&A setup window with Teach Q&A option selected:

Select Submit option to define the meaning or to understand ‘Furnishinmode’ term to Q&A visual:

Write your terms or select from given options:

Save this term. We can see result under ‘Preview your result option’.

Now onward whenever we type ‘total sales for Furnishingmode’ it will refer to ‘total sales for FUR-BO-10001798’ and give respective results.

Manage terms:

In this section we can see our provided definitions. Our suggested terms present here, we can delete this term if we no longer want to continue with these terms.

Close this window > go to report:

Red line is gone for ‘Furnishingmode’ and now it is displaying result for defined term.

Again, go to Teach Q&A option:

We can define names of fields present in our dataset that could be referred to with alternative names or we can define synonyms for some words. we can describe some conditions for our dataset. Let say I want to add a condition for awesome product from my dataset. In that case I want to describe a condition for Quantity sold for Product.

In Preview it is displaying result for Awesome products (i.e. for product whose quantity is greater than 12)

Go to report and use awesome word in question, it will give result on the basis of this saved condition:

Manage terms:

Under Manage term we have all suggested questions and terms those are saved with their respective fixes.

Suggest Question:

We can add questions for Q&A visual by ourselves. These suggested questions will help business users.

Now Q&A support Measure too:

I have added Profit YTD Measure in our dataset. Start type question including Profit word and we can see we have suggested question including Profit YTD.