Cross-Cutting Themes

3D render of a glass lens converging three beams of light into a single core

Three conditions affect every adoption route. Users misunderstand systems in both directions, so trust needs calibration. A system that calibrates its tone also produces a perception of social presence that may not have been intended. A system that answers right away also shifts the cognitive cost from the interaction to reliance on it.

Cross-cutting conditions

Trust, AI literacy and calibration: understanding what AI is and how it works often proceeds in opposing directions.
Empathy and social presence: an empathetic interlocutor enables a new kind of relationship to form.
Cognitive load and wellbeing: response speed and the understanding a user retains are not the same metric.

Accessibility and hybrid interfaces concerns a specific consequence of the conversational interface instead; the regulatory obligations these phenomena bring are covered in Emerging effects.