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AI label

The AI label indicates an instance of AI in the UI. It enables AI transparency through the visual recognition the AI icon and is the key pathway to AI explainability by acting as the trigger for the explainability popover.

New! AI label is now available as an experimental component. The AI label was previously called “AI Slug” but has been changed to better reflect its usage. This name change will be reflected in code and Figma once it moves to stable in the near future.

Live demo

The live demo and accessibility testing status for AI label will be added soon. Check back later for updates.

Overview

The AI label is more than just an indicator of AI instances in the UI. It’s also a consistent pathway to AI explainability. Its behavior is flexible enough to cooperate with the behaviors and interactions within existing products.

The AI label is intended for any scenario where something is being generated by or with AI to reinforce AI transparency, accountability, and explainability at any interface level. This also enables more effective recognition and recall of AI instances in a way that is identifiable across any IBM product.

An UI example with various AI label instances

Variants

VariantPurpose
DefaultThe default AI label used in most components and container type use cases. It can be used for both broad and focused AI instances.
InlineA specific type of AI label used only in small focused AI instances and often paired inline with text content.
A default and inline AI label

Default (left), Inline (right)

When to use

Mark AI-generated content

AI transparency is key, and the AI label is an accessible, interactive element that marks any AI instance presented in the interface.

Provides a consistent visual reference point for AI

For recognition and recall, users need a consistent, identifiable visual reference to look to when they need to understand more details about how the AI was built.

A pathway to explainability

Users must clearly understand how to access more details about how an AI was built. By providing a bridge to explainability from the AI label, users are given a recognizable location to learn more about the AI model.

When not to use

Don’t use the AI label as decoration

These are strictly intended to indicate any time a modality or component is using AI.

Don’t modify AI label behaviors

The AI label is intended as a pathway to explainability. Any additional behaviors can set unclear and inconsistent expectations.

Don’t use the AI label as a trigger for AI actions

The AI label is not a UI icon and should not be used with buttons or other call-to-actions to trigger an AI action like “regenerate.” Those type of AI actions will have their own UI icons.

Formatting

Anatomy

Anatomy of AI label
  1. AI indicator / button: indicates AI is present and is the button trigger for the explainability popover. It can be either the default or inline variant.
  2. Text label: the text abbreviation for artificial intelligence which can be translated as needed.
  3. Explainability popover: Area that contains AI explainability content and interactive elements.

Sizing

Default sizes

The default AI label spans the range of UI icons and pictogram sizes. Which size to use is determined by the prominence and hierarchy of the area it is in or by its neighboring content such as other buttons. When placed next to other ghost icon buttons we typically recommend going down one size from the button size so they are optically weighted the same.

Default sizeHeight (px/rem)
Mini16 / 1
2x small (2xs)20 / 1.25
Extra small (xs)24 / 1.5
Small (sm)32 / 2
Medium (md)40 / 2.5
Large (lg)48 / 3
Extra large (xl)64 / 4
Default AI label sizes

Inline sizes

The size of the inline AI label text should match the size of the text it is placed inline with. For example, when inserting the inline AI label into a table row with 14px font size, you match it with the medium-size inline AI label that also has a 14px font.

Inline sizeHeight (px/rem)Use case
Small (sm)16 / 1Paired with 12px type
Medium (md)18 / 1.125Paired with 14px type
Large (lg)22 / 1.375Paired with 16px type
Inline AI label sizes

Placement

The AI label should be placed in consistent locations based on modality to help users identify AI presence in the interface. Consistent placement reinforces recognition and recall for users. The instructions for these placements assume a left-to-right reading order. If right-to-left then these placements should be mirrored.

In containers

The AI label should be placed in the upper right of the container with appropriate margin. Never place the AI label flush to the edges of a container.

Example of an AI label placement in a container

In inputs

Place AI labels on the right side and in the middle of any form inputs (dropdowns, text or number input, etc.).

Example of an AI label placement in an input

With other icons

If other icons are present alongside the AI label, then the AI label should be placed in the far left position of the icon group.

Example of an AI label placement with other icons

The exception is when the icon has an interaction state that alters its size or position, like an expandable search or toggle-able sort. In these instances, the AI label is placed to the right of these exceptions but still to the left of other icon types.

Example of an AI label placement with search

In data tables

Where the AI label is positioned inside of a data table depends on which parts of the data are AI generated. For more details, see the AI presence section on the data table component page.

  • If the whole table has an AI presence, then place the AI label in the top right of the table header.
  • If a whole column has an AI presence, then place the AI label in the far right of the column header. The sort icon of the table column will now appear to the left of the AI label.
  • If a whole row has an AI presence, then place the AI label to the far left of the row and to the left of any selection or expansion controls.
  • If a single cell has an AI presence, then place the AI label inline and left to the cell text.
Example of an AI label placement in data tables

In forms

Where the AI label is placed in a form can vary depending on if the AI presence is across the whole form or just in certain parts of the form. For more guidance, see the AI presence section on the form component page.

  • If the entire form has an AI presence, then place the AI label in top right of the form header.
  • If only some parts of the form have an AI presence then the AI label should be embedded in the components or sections that are AI-generated.
Example of an AI label placement in forms

Levels of visibility

The AI label might appear at multiple levels of a page, or it might appear only once. The content in the AI explainability popover might be focused on a single AI instance or broadly address multiple instances. All scenarios are acceptable and possible, but the level of visibility depends on the need for explainability and/or the need to distinguish AI content from human content.

Visibility levelUsecase
FocusedUse for individual occurrences of AI within a section
BroadUse for summarization of AI usage across a section of a page.

Use a focused AI label:

  • When the user needs to have an individual AI instance explained.
  • When the user needs to distinguish between AI and non-AI content.
Example of a focused AI label instance

An example of focused AI labeling inside single cells in a data table.

Use a broad AI label:

  • When users don’t need specific explanations of AI on a per-instance level.
  • When the user doesn’t need to act on AI at an instance level.
Example of a broad AI label instance

An example of broad AI labeling on a whole column in a data table.

Using both focused and broad AI label

Use both focused and broad AI labels when AI surfaces throughout the experience, but:

  • Individual AI instances still need to be explained.
  • The user needs to distinguish between AI and non-AI content.
  • The user needs to act on AI at an instance level.
Example of a broad AI label instance

An example of broad AI labeling on the whole chat converation but focused AI labeling on a single message.

Content

Localization

The abbreviation AI in the AI label stands for the English term artificial intelligence. The abbreviation can be localized for other languages. Here are some examples of abbreviations in other languages.

  • AI in Chinese, Indonesia, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish LA
  • IA in European Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, France French
  • KI in German
  • ИИ in Russian, Bulgarian
Examples of the AI label in various languages

Explainability template

The explainability popover is a configurable content area. Carbon for AI provides a recommended content template for creating your explainability content. The template is split into four main content sections:

  • Overview
  • Supporting details
  • Artifacts and resources
  • Additional actions

For IBMers only: For more information and guidance on designing content for your explainability popover, see the AI explainability popover pattern on Design for AI.

Examples of the AI label in various languages

Behaviors

States

AI label has three interactive states: enabled, hover, and focus. The AI label should never be disabled as part of a disabled or read-only state. Learn more about states on the style tab.

AI labels shown in their three states

Enabled (left), hover (middle), focus (right)

Clickable areas

In the default AI label, the clickable area is limited to the icon without any additional external coverage, such as in a icon-only ghost button. The inline AI label will have a small amount of extra padding around it included in the click target area.

AI label click target

Explainability popover

The popover is the first layer of explainability that is accessed by clicking the AI label. This provides a consistent up-front way to access explainability with the ability to dig into more details on-demand. Use this popover any time AI needs to be explained in your experience.

An example of an AI explainability popover

Opening and dismissing the popover

The AI label is the trigger that opens explainability popover. The interaction works like a toggletip where the popover remains open until the user clicks or tabs away from the AI label. For a details on the keyboard interactions of the explainability popover, see the accessibility tab.

Popover orientation

The popover should auto-position itself to the best orientation on the screen so that it does not appear out of view for the user. It follows the same alignments as the primitive caret-tip popover.

Examples of various orientations for the explainability popover

Revert function

Users can manually override AI-suggested content, but they should always be able to programmatically switch back to the initially suggested AI content. In these instances, when the content is overridden by the user, the AI presence styling is removed and the AI label is replaced by a “revert” action icon-only button. If a user activates the revert action, the AI-generated content will reappear, along with the AI presence styling and AI label.

An example of user edited AI component

Guidelines

Components

Design for AI

For IBMers only

Feedback

Help us improve this component by providing feedback, asking questions, and leaving any other comments on GitHub. For IBMers only: Questions and feedback can be directed to Slack in the channels #carbon-design-system or #carbon-for-ai.