Overview
How might we design activation boundaries so people can trust and act on AI output?
When to use
- Essential for voice assistants, ambient agents, smart cameras, and any always-on AI in shared spaces, where explicit activation and deactivation signals are required for informed, ongoing consent.
When to skip
- One-shot push-to-talk where boundary is the button.
- Indicators users cannot see from normal viewing angle.
- Sessions that never end without explicit user action.
Rules
Listening with no persistent on-screen or hardware signal.
Wake word that triggers on similar sounds with no undo.
Camera active light smaller than power LED.
End session hidden in nested settings.
Evidence
| Product | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Apple Siri | On-screen glow and wake phrase with mute switch. |
| Alexa | Light ring and mute button on Echo devices. |
| macOS | Orange dot mic indicator in menu bar. |
| Ring | Privacy mode and recording indicators on cameras. |