Next-Generation Conversational AI: A Design-Proposal Approach

AI discussions often focus on performance: • More intelligent • More accurate • Faster • More capable However, if AI is increasingly becoming part of society’s infrastructure, performance alone may not be sufficient. Recently, I have been exploring the idea that: “Performance is not the only design target. Boundaries are also design targets.” When AI interacts with humans in real-world environments, we must design not only what AI can do, but also where its operational boundaries should exist. As part of the Boundary-Centered Design Theory (BCDT) framework, I identified eight boundary categories that may deserve explicit consideration in AI design: 1. Responsibility Boundary Who is accountable for AI-influenced decisions and outcomes? 2. Authority Boundary What actions may AI perform autonomously, and what requires human authorization? 3. Safety Boundary Under what conditions should AI transition into a safe operational state? 4. Knowledge Boundary What is known, uncertain, or unknown? 5. Intervention Boundary How far may AI influence human decisions, preferences, or behavior? 6. Social Boundary How should AI align with legal, ethical, and institutional norms? 7. Capability Boundary What can AI reliably do, and what can it not do? 8. Relationship Boundary What kind of relationship should exist between AI and humans? What I find interesting is that many current AI challenges can be viewed through one or more of these boundaries: • Hallucinations → Knowledge Boundary • Overtrust in AI → Capability Boundary • AI dependency → Relationship Boundary • Manipulative influence → Intervention Boundary • Autonomous agents → Authority Boundary As AI becomes more deeply integrated into society, an increasingly important question may not simply be: “What can AI do?” but also: “Where should AI stop?” Perhaps one of the next major challenges in AI design is not only improving intelligence, but also designing the boundaries that govern AI participation in human reality. Which of these eight boundaries do you consider most important, and why?