Updating docs AI subsystem

This commit overall does the following: - Adjust the function name with the latest changes - Add a diagram in the design overview - Content restructuring Co-authored-by: David Woloszyn <[email protected]>
moodle · Oct 28, 2024 · 7a1694c · 7a1694c
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diff --git a/docs/apis/subsystems/ai/index.md b/docs/apis/subsystems/ai/index.md
@@ -10,149 +10,128 @@ tags:
 <Since version="4.5" issueNumber="MDL-80888" />
 
 The AI Subsystem in Moodle LMS provides a consistent and user-friendly way for users to interact with AI
-in Moodle's user interface, as they do their teaching and learning activities.
-As well as providing a straightforward way to integrate with various AI providers on the backend.
+in Moodle. It has been designed for easy integration with various AI providers and the development of [AI plugins](/apis/plugintypes/ai/index.md).
 
 ## What is AI in this context?
 
-When we talk about AI in the context of this subsystem, AI is: anything that's plugged in via a Provider
-Plugin and provides one or more Actions.
+The term 'AI' is very broad and covers a range of concepts like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML),
+Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, etc.
 
-Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, etc.
-are all individual terms with discrete meanings. However, to keep things simple and in the context of
-the subsystem everything is just called AI.
+However, in the context of Moodle, we are simplifying the term 'AI' to mean the tools and actions AI technologies provide to the LMS learning experience.
+These AI tools are supplied in the form of [plugins](/apis/plugintypes/ai/index.md) that feature a set of possible actions.
+
+For example, the [Placement plugin](/apis/plugintypes/ai/placement.md) allows users to gain access to the Course Assistant. This AI tool enables
+users to have information within their course summarised by the integrated AI.
+
+This is the context of the term 'AI'.
 
 ## Design Overview
 
-The AI subsystem consists of the following (main) components:
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    User->>Placement: Input action
+    Placement->>Manager: Action data
+    Manager->>Provider: Formatted action data
+    Provider->>External AI: Send data
+    External AI-->>Provider: Receive response
+    Provider-->>Manager: Response data
+    Manager-->>Placement: Formatted response data
+    Placement-->>User: Action completed
+```
+
+The AI Subsystem consists of the following (main) components:
 
 - **Placements**
   - Are the UI components and associated workflows that allow users to interact with AI.
   - They implement one or more AI actions.
-  - They provide a consistent experience for users regardless of which AI is providing the action
-  - They are LMS plugins
+  - They provide a consistent experience for users regardless of which AI is providing the action.
+  - They are LMS plugins.
 - **Actions**
-  - These are the "things" users can do with AI.
+  - These are the 'things' users can do with AI.
   - Examples of an action include: generating text, generating an image, providing a chat interface.
   - Actions don't have a UI, they are classes that provide a predictable interface.
 - **Providers**
   - Providers are the interface between AI systems and the Moodle LMS.
   - They implement support for one or more actions.
-  - Providers should not have an UI, apart from those required for settings,
-  to configure and manage the provider. For example an Administration UI to allow setting of API
-  keys; and/or to enable or disable the enabled actions.
-  - The aim of Providers is to make it "easy" to integrate AI systems with LMS,
-  without the need to implement a UI to use them.
-  - They are LMS plugins
+  - Providers should not have a UI, apart from those required to configure the provider.
+  - The aim of Providers is to make it easy to integrate AI systems with Moodle LMS.
+  - They are LMS plugins.
 - **Subsystem Manager**
   - This is implemented at code level and is a core part of the subsystem design.
-  - It is the "controller" that sits between Placements and Providers.
-  - It allows Placements to pass user requests to Providers and handles all the calls to
-  the providers including prioritisation and logging.
+  - It is the 'controller' that sits between Placement and Provider plugins.
+  - It allows Placements to pass user requests to Providers and handles all the calls to the Providers, including prioritisation and logging.
   - It allows Providers to respond to action requests.
 
 ### Placements
 
-The aim of Placements is to provide a consistent UX and UI for users when they use AI backed functionality.
+Placements provide a consistent UX and UI for users when they use AI backed functionality (e.g. generating an image).
 
 Placement plugins leverage the functionality of the other components of the AI subsystem.
 This means plugin authors can focus on how users interact with the AI functionality, without needing to
 implement the AI functionality itself.
 
-Because Placements are LMS plugins in their own right and are not "other" types of LMS plugins,
-it gives great flexibility in how AI functionality is presented to users.
+Because Placements are plugins in their own right, it allows for greater flexibility in how AI functionality is presented to users.
 
 See the [Placements](/apis/plugintypes/ai/placement.md) documentation for more information
 on developing Placement plugins.
 
 ### Providers
 
-Provider plugins are the interface between the LMS AI subsystem and external AI systems.
-Their focus is on converting the data requested by an Action into the format needed by the
-external AI services API, and then correctly providing the response back from the AI
-in an Action Response object.
-
-Because of this design the Providers that provide the AI Actions can be swapped out, mix and matched
-or upgraded; both without the need to update the Placement code and without the need to change the
-way users interact with the functionality.
+Providers are the interface between the [AI subsystem](/apis/subsystems/ai/index.md) and external AI.
+Their focus should be on converting the data requested into the format needed
+by the external AI, and then correctly providing the response back.
 
 See the [Providers](/apis/plugintypes/ai/provider.md) documentation for more information
 on developing Provider plugins.
 
 ### Subsystem Manager
 
-The Subsystem Manager is the "controller" that sits between Placements and Providers.
+The Subsystem Manager is the 'controller' that sits between Placements and Providers.
+In general it will be how most processes will interact with the AI subsystem.
 
 :::warning The Golden Rule:
 
-Placements DO NOT know about Providers, and Providers DO NOT know about Placements.
+Placements **do not** know about Providers, and Providers **do not** know about Placements.
 Everything should go via the Manager.
 
 :::
 
-The manager class `\core_ai\manager()` is the "controller" for the subsystem.
-In general it will be how most processes will interact with the AI subsystem.
-
-The main method in the class is `process_action(base $action): responses\response_base`
-this is the entry point for Action processing. Every Placement that wants to process an AI action
-calls this method.
-The manager will determine what Providers support this action and then hand off the action object to
-a Provider. The Provider **MUST** return an action response object. This method will also store the
+The main method in the class is `process_action(base $action): responses\response_base`.
+This is the entry point for Action processing. Every Placement that wants to process an AI action calls this method.
+The Manager will determine which Providers support this action and then hand-off the action object to
+a Provider. The Provider **must** return an action response object. This method will also store the
 result of each action call.
 
-The manager class also has various utility methods that can be accessed.
-Such as getting the list of providers for specific actions, which is used to help render
-administration settings.
-
-### AI User Policy
-
-Inline with Moodle's AI Principles and as guided by emerging legislation; users must accept an
-AI policy before using AI in LMS. As the requirements are different to a site policy
-(legislation, seems to indicate it acknowledgement of AI must be made at point of use),
-separate policy functionality has been implemented for the subsystem.
-
-All Placements must implement a check to see if a user has accepted the AI Policy.
-Placements must also provide a way for users to accept the policy.
-If a user has not previously accepted the AI Policy, the Placement must display the policy to the
-user, and the user is not able to use the placement until they accept the policy.
-Users only need to accept the policy once.
-
-To assist Placements with policy display and acceptance the Manager provides the following functionality:
-
-- The Manager makes the following methods available for Placements to call directly:
-  - `\core_ai\manger::get_user_policy(int $userid): bool` -
-  Given a user ID (record id in user table), returns true if the user has accepted the policy,
-  false otherwise. It handles looking up the status and caching the response.
-  - `\core_ai\manager::set_user_policy(int $userid, int $contextid): bool` -
-  Given a user ID and a Context ID (of the context the policy was displayed in) set the policy
-  acceptance.
-- The manager class also makes available webservices to be used for policy setting and getting.
-  This helps Placements set policy acceptance via ajax as part of a UI workflow:
-  - `core_ai_get_policy_status` -
-  Gets the policy status for a user. Calls: `core_ai\external\get_policy_status`
-  - `core_ai_set_policy_status` -
-  Sets the policy status for a user. Calls: `core_ai\external\set_policy_status`
+The Manager class also provides various utility methods, such as retrieving the list of providers for specific actions.
+These methods are useful for rendering administration settings.
 
 ### Actions
 
-Actions provide a structured way to work with AI. Placements create an Action object when they want
-to interact with AI and Providers, and it is an Action that Providers consume.
+Actions provide instructions to the integrated AI.
+Placements create an Action object which is then consumed by the Provider.
 
 Actions are defined as classes in the `\core_ai\aiactions` namespace.
-The naming convention for Action classes is `<verb>_<noun singular>`,
-for example: `generate_image`, `translate_text`.
+The naming convention for Action classes is `<verb>_<noun singular>`.
 
-Each action **MUST** inherit from the `\core_ai\aiactions\base()` abstract class.
+#### Actions in AI subsystem
+
+- `generate_image`
+- `generate_text`
+- `summarise_text`
+
+#### Base abstract class
+
+Each Action **must** inherit from the `\core_ai\aiactions\base` abstract class.
 They must also implement two methods:
 
-- `__construct(...args): void`
-  - The constructor method is allowed to have a variable signature, so that each action can define its own
-  configuration requirements.
-  - The method **MUST** take a `contextid` as one of the variables.
-  - An Action **MUST** be correctly instantiated before it can be used and passed onto the AI manager.
-  For example the constructor method for the generate_image Action is:
+##### 1. `__construct()`
+
+- The constructor method is allowed to have a variable signature, so that each Action can define its own
+configuration requirements.
+- The method **must** take a `contextid` as one of the variables.
+- An Action **must** be correctly instantiated before it can be used and passed to the AI manager.
 
-```php
+```php title="Example: The __construct() method for the generate_image Action"
 public function __construct(
     int $contextid,
     /** @var int The user id requesting the action. */
@@ -172,14 +151,13 @@ public function __construct(
 }
 ```
 
-- `store(response_base $response): int`
-  - This method is responsible for storing any action specific data related to the action in the
-  LMS database.
-  - Each Action must store its own data can that can be referenced later.
-  - It takes a matching response class, that contains the result of the action call.
-  - For example the store() call form the generate_image Action is:
+##### 2. `store()`
 
-```php
+- This method is responsible for storing data related to the Action in the LMS database.
+- Each Action must store its own data that can be referenced later.
+- It takes a matching response class that contains the result of the Action call.
+
+```php title="Example: The store() method for the generate_image Action"
 #[\Override]
 public function store(response_base $response): int {
     global $DB;
@@ -199,14 +177,13 @@ public function store(response_base $response): int {
 }
 ```
 
-It is up to the action to define its own database schema and stored data, that is relevant to
-what the action does. For example the database table definition for the generate_image Action is:
+Each Action will need to define its own database schema and stored data that is relevant to what it does.
 
-```xml
-<TABLE NAME="ai_action_generate_image" COMMENT="stores specific data about generate image actions">
+```xml title="Example: The database table definition for the generate_image Action"
+<TABLE NAME="ai_action_generate_image" COMMENT="Stores specific data about generate image actions">
     <FIELDS>
         <FIELD NAME="id" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="true"/>
-        <FIELD NAME="prompt" TYPE="text" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The text from the user that was used to generate the image"/>
+        <FIELD NAME="prompt" TYPE="text" NOTNULL="false" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The text from the user that was used to generate the image"/>
         <FIELD NAME="numberimages" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The number of images requested to be generated"/>
         <FIELD NAME="quality" TYPE="char" LENGTH="21" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The quality of the image, e.g. hd."/>
         <FIELD NAME="aspectratio" TYPE="char" LENGTH="20" NOTNULL="false" SEQUENCE="false" COMMENT="The aspect ratio of the generate image, e.g landscape"/>
@@ -220,28 +197,24 @@ what the action does. For example the database table definition for the generate
 </TABLE>
 ```
 
-The naming convention for Action database tables is `ai_action_<action_name>`,
-for example: `ai_action_generate_image`, `ai_action_translate_text`.
+The naming convention for Action database tables is `ai_action_<action_name>`. For example: `ai_action_generate_image`, `ai_action_translate_text`.
 
 #### Responses
 
-When a Provider processes an Action it **MUST** return a response object.
+When a Provider processes an Action it **must** return a response object.
 This allows Placements to receive an expected response for any Action call.
-Each Action has a matching response class. The provider that processes the Action will instantiate
+Each Action has a matching response class. The Provider that processes the Action will instantiate
 an instance of this response class and populate it with the data required for this type of response.
 
-Each Action response MUST inherit from the `\core_ai\aiactions\responses\response_base` abstract
+Each Action response **must** inherit from the `\core_ai\aiactions\responses\response_base` abstract
 class. They must also implement two methods:
 
-- `set_response(array $response): void`
-  - Taking an array of response variables (which must be defined as class variables),
-  it sets these against class variables so they can be retrieved by the Manager and calling Placement.
-- `get_response(): array`
-  - Returns the set response data.
+##### 1. `set_response_data()`
 
-For example the `set_response()` for the generate_image Action response is:
+Taking an array of response variables (which must be defined as class variables),
+it sets these against class variables so they can be retrieved by the Manager and calling Placement.
 
-```php
+```php title="Example: The set_response_data() for the generate_image Action response"
     #[\Override]
     public function set_response_data(array $response): void {
         $this->draftfile = $response['draftfile'] ?? null;
@@ -250,9 +223,11 @@ For example the `set_response()` for the generate_image Action response is:
     }
 ```
 
-And the `get_response()` for the generate_image Action response is:
+##### 2. `get_response_data()`
+
+Returns the set response data.
 
-```php
+```php title="Example: The get_response_data() for the generate_image Action response"
     #[\Override]
     public function get_response_data(): array {
         return [
@@ -263,5 +238,45 @@ And the `get_response()` for the generate_image Action response is:
     }
 ```
 
-The naming convention for Action Response classes is `response_<action_name>`,
-for example: `response_generate_image`, `response_translate_text`.
+The naming convention for Action response classes is `response_<action_name>`. For example: `response_generate_image`, `response_translate_text`.
+
+## AI User Policy
+
+Inline with Moodle's AI Principles, and as guided by emerging legislation, users must accept the
+AI User Policy before using AI in LMS. As the requirements are different from a site policy,
+separate policy functionality has been implemented for the AI subsystem (legislation indicates acknowledgement of AI must be made at point of use).
+
+- Placements must implement a check to see if a user has accepted the policy.
+- Placements must provide a way for users to accept the policy.
+- If a user has not previously accepted the policy, the Placement must display the policy to the user.
+- The user is not able to use the Placement until they accept the policy.
+- Users only need to accept the policy once.
+
+To assist Placements with displaying the AI User Policy, the Manager provides the following functionality:
+
+### Direct call
+
+The Manager makes the following methods available for Placements to call directly:
+
+#### `\core_ai\manager::get_user_policy_status(int $userid): bool`
+
+Given a User ID (record id in user table), returns `true` if the user has accepted the policy,
+`false` otherwise. It handles looking up the status and caching the response.
+
+#### `\core_ai\manager::user_policy_accepted(int $userid, int $contextid): bool`
+
+Given a User ID and a Context ID (context the policy was displayed in), set the policy
+acceptance.
+
+### Webservices
+
+The Manager class also makes available webservices to be used for policy setting and getting.
+This helps Placements set policy acceptance via Ajax as part of a UI workflow:
+
+#### `core_ai_get_policy_status`
+
+Gets the policy status for a user. Calls: `core_ai\external\get_policy_status`
+
+#### `core_ai_set_policy_status`
+
+Sets the policy status for a user. Calls: `core_ai\external\set_policy_status`