Designing for Conversation in the Age of Multimodal AI
In this episode of the CDI Expert Series: Unprompted, we sit down with Karen Kuczynski, UX lead for Gemini Live at Google DeepMind, to dive into the evolution of design from deterministic flowcharts to open-ended LLMs, the mechanics of building trust in AI, and the role of multimodality in shaping natural, human-like interactions. Karen reflects on her career arc, the resilience it takes to work at the cutting edge, and how designers today must rethink what it means to guide a “conversation” between people and AI systems.
This episode explores:
- How conversational AI is shifting from voice-only to multimodal
- Designing Gemini Live, a real-time companion that can see what you see, translate across languages, and collaborate in the moment
- The challenge of creating trust frameworks for LLMs
- Why voice identity and diversity matter when users form ongoing relationships with AI
- The shift from deterministic flowcharts to principles, guidelines, and facilitation between humans and AI models
- The role of user research and feedback loops in validating hypotheses and iterating products
- Lessons from designing communication systems for autonomous vehicles and emerging interfaces
This conversation offers a vital perspective, whether you're a veteran in the field or just starting out, on where conversation design has been—and its trajectory in this new era of generative, multimodal AI. The ultimate question after listening is: how do we design conversational experiences that are not only intelligent but genuinely human-centered, adaptive, and trustworthy?
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Karen Kaushansky
Conversational AI/UX Lead at Google
What is Unprompted?
Welcome to Unprompted, a conversation series by the Conversation Design Institute, where we explore the craft, the practice, and the future of conversational AI with the people shaping it.
Learn directly from global leaders, designers, and researchers who are shaping the future of Conversational AI. Each episode of Unprompted brings candid insights, practical lessons, and behind-the-scenes stories from the people building today’s most impactful AI experiences.