5.3.5. Synonyms Configuration

• Concept: Define equivalent terms for better matching
• Purpose: Handle vocabulary variations
• Benefit: Improved recall without duplicate entries

When adding synonyms via API:

• ✅ Can be added in any order
• ✅ Requires at least one QA pair first
• ❌ Special characters not allowed (#, @, ~, etc.)

// This will cause an error - special characters not allowed
{
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "alterations": [
        "fix problems",
        "troubleshoot",
        "#diagnostic"  // ❌ Will cause error
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Solution: Remove special characters from the API call.

Key Trade-Offs:

• CLU vs. Question Answering: CLU handles complex intents but requires training; QA handles FAQs with minimal setup
• Precision vs. Recall: Threshold adjustments trade one for the other

Reflection Question: Your CLU model has high precision (95%) but low recall (70%) for one intent. What might cause this, and how would you address it?