Part 2: AI Automation

4. Part Two: Add AI

In Part 1, we created a basic automation where a student submits a form and n8n sends the information through Gmail.

Now we are going to make the workflow smarter by adding Artificial Intelligence.

Instead of simply sending the student's original message, AI will understand the student's request and turn it into a clear, polite, and professional email.

5. Change the Form for AI Automation

Our original form only collected basic information. For AI automation, we need a little more information so that the AI can understand who the student is and what they are asking for.

Updated Form

Example Student Input

6. Add the Basic LLM Chain

The next step is to add an AI node to our n8n workflow.

n8n provides a node called Basic LLM Chain which allows us to tell an AI model what we want it to do.

Add the Node

1. Open your n8n workflow.
2. Click the + button.
3. Search for Basic LLM Chain.
4. Add the node to your workflow.

Connect the Form

Connect the output of your student form to the Basic LLM Chain.

Add the Groq Chat Model

The Basic LLM Chain needs a language model to generate the response.

For this workshop, we will use Groq.

1. Open the Basic LLM Chain node.
2. Find the model input.
3. Select Groq Chat Model.
4. Connect the Groq Chat Model to the model input.

Groq Console

Open the Groq Console:

https://console.groq.com/

Create a Groq API Key

1. Sign in to your Groq account.
2. Open the API Keys section.
3. Create a new API key.
4. Give the key a name such as n8n-workshop.
5. Copy the generated API key.

Configure Groq in n8n

1. Open the Groq Chat Model node.
2. Create a new Groq credential.
3. Paste your Groq API key.
4. Save the credential.
5. Select an available chat model from the model dropdown.

Understand the Two Nodes

7. AI Prompt

The prompt is one of the most important parts of the AI automation.

It tells the AI what role it has, what information it receives, and exactly how it should respond.

Copy this prompt into the Basic LLM Chain

You are an AI email assistant for college students. Your job is to
take a student's request, question, complaint, or concern and turn it
into a clear, polite, and professional email that can be sent to the
college department or faculty selected by the student.

Student Information:

Name:
{{ $json['Student Name'] }}

Email:
{{ $json['Faculty Email'] }}

Department / Faculty:
{{ $json['Department'] }}

Subject:
{{ $json['Subject'] }}

Student's Request:
{{ $json['What do you need?'] }}

Instructions:

1. Carefully understand what the student is trying to communicate.

2. Rewrite the student's request into a clear, polite, and
professional email suitable for communication with a college
department or faculty.

3. Keep the student's original meaning and intention.
Do not change what the student is asking for.

4. The request may involve any normal college-related matter,
including leave requests, academic questions, examination issues,
document requests, technical problems, fee-related questions,
complaints, or general concerns.

5. Address the selected department or faculty appropriately.

6. Use a respectful, friendly, and professional tone.

7. Make the request clear and easy for the recipient to understand.

8. Do not invent information, policies, dates, decisions, excuses,
or other details that the student did not provide.

9. Do not promise that the request will be approved or accepted.
The selected department or faculty will make the final decision.

10. If the student's request is unclear, do not invent missing
details. Keep the wording general and politely ask the department
or faculty for clarification if necessary.

11. Keep the email reasonably concise.
Do not make it unnecessarily long.

12. End the email politely with the student's name.

13. Return only the email body.

14. Do not include the subject line, explanation, analysis,
or any additional commentary.

The final output should be a natural, respectful email that is
ready to be sent to the selected college department or faculty.

8. Test the AI

Now let's test whether the AI can understand the student's request and generate a professional email.

Test Data

Expected AI Output

What Just Happened?

The student did not have to write a perfectly formatted email.

They simply explained what they needed in normal language.

The AI understood the request and converted it into professional communication.

9. Connect AI to Gmail

Once the AI generates the professional email, we can send its output through Gmail.

Gmail Node

Add or use the Gmail node from Part 1.

Subject

Use the subject submitted by the student.

{{ Subject }}

Body

Instead of using the student's original message, use the output generated by the Basic LLM Chain.

Recipient

The selected department or faculty should determine where the email is sent.

10. Live Demonstration

Now let's run the complete automation.

Step 1

Open the form.

Step 2

Enter required information.

Step 3

Submit the form.

Step 4

n8n receives the form data.

Step 5

The Basic LLM Chain sends the information to the Groq Chat Model.

Step 6

The AI generates a professional email.

Step 7

Gmail sends the generated email.

11. Final AI Automation

At this point, our workflow should look like this:

What Happens Automatically?

1. A student submits a request.
2. n8n receives the information.
3. The AI understands the request.
4. The AI creates a professional email.
5. Gmail sends the email.

12. The Important Difference

The Main Idea

Traditional automation follows predefined rules.

AI automation allows the workflow to understand natural language and generate useful responses.

13. What We Have Built

We have now upgraded our original n8n workflow into an AI-powered automation system.

The Complete Process

Ready for Part 3?

In the next part, we will extend this automation by connecting it to Discord.

Continue to Part 3: Discord Automation →