AI moderator or AI participant: who runs the conversation?
In short
An AI moderator runs the program and decides who gets the floor. An AI participant joins the discussion and speaks when the moderator calls on it. The Aura51 AI avatars are participants, and we do not offer a virtual moderator. Whoever moderates has to stay neutral and react to the room instantly. Our AI avatars are not built for that.
Last updated 2 October 2026
01Two roles
The moderator hands out the floor, the participant gets it
Your program is set, the panel is booked, and only the moderator slot is still open. Someone on your team suggests that an AI could handle that part. The term AI moderator, however, covers two roles that have little in common.
An AI moderator, also called a virtual moderator or AI host, takes the place of the human moderator. An AI participant, by contrast, is one of the guests and appears as a face on the screen. Search for AI moderation and you will also find software that screens and removes posts on online platforms, which is a different field entirely.
AI moderator
- Opens, introduces the guests and wraps up.
- Gives the floor and takes it back.
- Cuts off a guest who runs long.
- Keeps its own opinion out of it.
AI participant
- Speaks when the moderator calls it by name.
- Answers follow-ups right after, even without its name.
- Keeps an answer as long as the question calls for.
- Argues the position from its briefing, against the other guests too.
02Our decision
Why a human moderates at Aura51
Our AI avatars do not moderate. A moderator has to stay neutral, and each of our characters comes with a stance of its own: Albert as the provocateur, Vera as the skeptic.
Moderating also means reacting instantly, for example when a guest runs long or the room gets restless. Even at best, about 1.5 s pass before the AI avatar makes its first sound. By default it hears only the stage microphones, and it cannot tell how the room is reacting.
A moderator who waits to be called on cannot open an event or bridge a pause. The AI avatar waits for its name. As long as no one calls on it or triggers it with a button, and no conversation with it is under way, it stays silent, even when the stage goes quiet for a long time.
The AI avatar also needs the internet. If the connection fails, the panel loses a guest. If an AI moderator failed, the whole event would come to a halt.
So if you are looking for a virtual moderator to run an event on its own, we are not the right people to ask.
03The test
A participant may miss a change of subject, the moderator may not
In a live test at a laptop, the moderator moved on to the next topic. The AI avatar did not follow. The run's log showed why: it never registered the moderator's transition as a question, and it had no rule saying the moderator sets the course.
Whoever moderates should call on it by name with the new topic after a change of subject, rather than wait to see whether it follows. If the moderator misses a change of subject, no one brings the panel back.
04Division of labor
The moderator stays neutral, the AI avatar takes sides
Because the AI avatar argues one side, the moderator does not have to play the opposing position. If the panel lacks a dissenting voice, the moderator calls on the AI avatar and stays neutral. The briefing sets which side it takes.
It has heard the whole discussion and can disagree with a guest by name. When it does so is up to the moderator, through the call. Once the moderator calls on another guest, the AI avatar's turn is over, and the moderator can stop it at any moment.
If you plan to bring in an AI avatar, agree with your moderator on which questions to call on it for. Those calls are in standard German for the time being; it does not follow Swiss German, and English is not an option yet.