Do you have to call the AI avatar by name every time?
12 s
conversation without a name call
a setting
a setting, not a measurement · from the last sentence, after that it takes its name again
In short
No. After each answer the AI avatar takes follow-ups without its name, because at a table nobody says a name before every follow-up. “Und warum?” (and why?) is enough; an “Okay” gets no reply. The conversation ends 12 s after the last sentence or once the moderator calls on someone else. A passing mention of its name is not a call.
Last updated 2 October 2026
01Background
The follow-up that got no answer
“Was könnten wir dagegen machen?” (What could we do about it?) A tester asked that right after the AI avatar had answered. It stayed silent, because nobody had said its name.
When we went through the run afterward, that silence bothered us more than any wait in it. A pause before an answer explains itself. A question that gets nothing at all looks like a breakdown.
So we made it keep listening after an answer, even without its name. In the live tests that followed it answered follow-ups without its name, though not every one.
02Name call
A name alone is not a call
The safest place for its name is the start of a sentence, as a direct address, with the question in the same sentence. In German, that sounds like this: “Albert, wie siehst du das?” (Albert, how do you see this?) Addressing it like this counts as a call right away.
Often the question only comes one sentence later. The moderator says, for example, “Albert, du hast die ganze Runde mitgehört.” (Albert, you have heard the whole round.) and then asks “Was fehlt dir in dieser Diskussion?” (What is missing from this discussion?) It waits for the second sentence and takes both together as its question. If the moderator keeps talking after that, it listens until they are done.
When its name comes up any other way, it first checks whether it really is the one being addressed. A sentence like “Albert hat vorhin gesagt …” (Albert said earlier …) starts with its name but is talking about it. The AI avatar stays quiet.
03Conversation
How long it listens without its name
The moderator can see on the tablet whether it is still listening. A green “In conversation” notice appears, and each further answer extends the time. When the notice is gone, the next question needs its name again.
During that time it checks sentences without its name the same way, looking at what was just said to decide. It answers a follow-up a little more slowly than a call by name: at the median after a good two seconds rather than just under two.
Many sentences in that time are not meant for it. Over the course of a test discussion, it let twelve sentences without its name pass and never spoke unasked.
- 12 sconversation without a name callfrom the last sentence · a setting, not a measurement
What it answers
- a follow-up such as “Und warum?” (and why?)
- pushback or a request directed at it
- a new call with its name
What it does not answer
- a “Danke” (thanks), an “Okay” and similar acknowledgments
- a question to a guest or to the room
- a follow-up without its name once the time is up
04Gaps
Where a follow-up slips past it
The first gap is a long follow-up without its name. In that same discussion, a tester spoke for about twenty seconds after its answer and only got to the question at the very end. By then the time had run out. Three times, a question like this only got through because its name came up at the end.
Since then, the time keeps running as long as someone is still talking, and it checks the whole contribution, not just its last sentence.
The second gap is a question addressed to “du” (you) without its name. It is now meant to lean toward taking such a question right after its answer as addressed to itself. That is not a fixed rule; once it still passed over one until its name came up. We are deliberately not making it firmer, because “Was meinst du?” (What do you think?) may just as well be meant for the guest next to it. When it matters, the moderator says its name.
05Questions
When the exchange takes a different turn
Can a guest follow up too, or only the moderator?
A guest can too. In the time after its answer, any follow-up aimed at it counts, no matter who asks, and at the mixing desk it listens to all the panel microphones for this. We have tested this on a laptop where everyone spoke into the same microphone.
How do I end the conversation before the time is up?
Call on someone else by name, and it is out right away. Or tap STOP, which also ends an answer that is still playing.
Why doesn’t it listen without its name all evening?
Because the moderator should decide when it speaks, and without its name it can only judge whether a sentence is meant for it. If no follow-up comes its way after an answer, the conversation ends. After that, its name brings it back, or the moderator uses the tablet to hand it a guest’s last sentence as a question or types one in.