A name gives your AI agent identity and builds trust. Choose between personable names for consumer products or functional ones for business tools. Watch out for sound symbolism: certain letters signal energy or reliability, and names that work in English may mean something awkward in other languages.
Why name your AI agent at all?
One is to give it an identity so you have a way to identify it, and two is to create connection, which can help build brand loyalty and trust.
What are three things that you need to think about when it comes to naming an agent?
First of all, you should think about whether you want to give it a human or animate name versus a functional name. Um, two, you should think about how the letters in the name sound and how they will affect people with those sounds. And 3, you need to think about the global sensitivities. Human can also be animate, so it could be like an animal name or something like that. But if you are a B2C company, it's often a good idea to go with a human or an animate name. If you are a B2B company, it can be a better choice to just go with a functional name. You know, are you going to call it like Janet? I don't know, maybe not. You're just selling them an SDR agent, and it seems pretty clear that you want to keep it functional.
Sound symbolism. What is it and why do I need to consider it?
Sound symbolism is the science of how sounds make us feel and how they affect our brains. Certain letters convey different qualities. For example, the letter V is considered the most energetic letter in the English language, and it's a great one if you want something that's vibrant and energetic. And the letters B, P, T, and K are considered the most reliable letters in the English language, and they would be appropriate for an agent if you wanted to convey that it was safe and secure and reliable.
And so you said the third thing to consider is local considerations.
You are a global enterprise and your agent will be interacting with customers around the world. You need to do your research and find out if the name means something else in another language. So, for example, Siri is a Scandinavian name that means beautiful woman that leads you to victory. Sounds great, right? Except if you're in Japan, where it sounds very much like a colloquial term for one's backside.
You know, a lot of companies have products that they consider their babies. What went into naming your own children?
Oh, God. Okay, well, so I'm a writer, so I chose literary names.
Did you give any thought into what those names might mean in other countries?
No, I did not think about what they would mean in other countries, but I definitely gave some thought to what they would mean on the Playground.
