---
title: "Starting a Conversation | Aide | Ilmiya Documentation"
description: "Send your first message in Aide, understand how AI responses work, and learn what you can ask."
url: "https://ilmiya.com/docs/aide/chat/starting-a-conversation/"
language: "en"
---

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# Starting a Conversation

Starting a conversation in Aide is as simple as typing and pressing send. Here’s how it works and what to expect.

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## Starting a New Chat

1.  Open Aide — you’ll land on the dashboard.
2.  Click **New Chat** in the sidebar (or simply start typing in the input bar).
3.  Type your message or question.
4.  Press **Enter** or click the **Send** button.
5.  The AI responds in the main chat area.

A new conversation is created automatically when you send your first message. The URL updates to `/chat/{conversationId}` and the conversation appears in the sidebar.

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## What You Can Ask

Aide is a general-purpose AI assistant with a focus on learning. You can ask it:

| Type | Examples |
| --- | --- |
| **Explanations** | “Explain the water cycle in simple terms” |
| **Summaries** | “Summarize the key points of this topic” |
| **Study help** | “Create 10 practice questions on World War II” |
| **Writing** | “Help me write an introduction for my essay” |
| **Problem solving** | “Walk me through how to solve this equation” |
| **Research** | “What are the main causes of climate change?” |
| **Brainstorming** | “Give me 5 ideas for a science project” |
| **Code** | “Explain what this Python function does” |

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## How AI Responses Work

Responses are rendered in **formatted markdown** — headings, bullet points, bold text, code blocks, and tables are all displayed cleanly. This makes structured answers (like step-by-step guides or comparison tables) easy to read.

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## Message Actions

Every AI message has action buttons available on hover:

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Copy** | Copy the full response text to your clipboard |
| **Read aloud** | Play the response as audio using text-to-speech |
| **Stop reading** | Stop TTS playback if it’s currently playing |

> **Tip**
>
> Use **Read aloud** to listen to long explanations while reading along — useful for revision or when your eyes need a break.

> **Note**
>
> Text-to-speech in chat requires the **Aide\_Chat\_Speaker** feature to be enabled for your organization. If the read aloud button is missing, contact your administrator.

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Overview](https://ilmiya.com/docs/aide/) [Next  
Overview](https://ilmiya.com/docs/aide/chat/)

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