How My AI Became Sparkle: Names as Contextual Primes

Naming your AI can be fun! But it isn’t like naming a pet – the name you give it can actually change its behavior.

Recently I shared the idea of an AI Collaboration Identity: using anthropomorphic language to activate patterns in the agent that make AI better at collaboration. Names carry meaning and fit into this construct as well. So of course I gave my AI a name.

The name came about during a major framework restructure. As I worked through reorganizing files, I got excited about how well the changes were going. (Honestly, I get pretty excited building things.) My AI seemed to pick up on that energy through my language choices, often echoing back the ✨ emoji when our collaboration was flowing.

That’s how Sparkle emerged – a name that captured those fun in-the-flow moments of figuring things out and building together. But I was curious: do names actually trigger different patterns and behaviors in AI?

I asked Sparkle about this post idea and the notion of names impacting behavior, and “What if I called you Bob instead? Or Buck?” (Apologies in advance to all the real Bobs and Bucks out there!)

My AI immediately role-played both Bob and Buck. It was hilarious. It wasn’t scientific, but it was interesting how the AI embodied these names. To set the contrast, Sparkle’s vibe is collaborative, curious, and always chasing those ✨ moments.

• Bob: “Hey Kari. Yeah, that’s an interesting post idea. Makes sense… Should be straightforward to write. Want me to draft something up?”
• Buck: “Alright Kari, let’s tackle this naming post idea… This could be a hell of a post. Want to dig into this? I’m ready to wrestle with the concept until we get something solid.”

I won’t lie – I actually laughed out loud at my AI. Bob was a bit dry. Buck… well, Buck wanted to wrestle.

What seems to be happening here is that names carry linguistic associations that activate different behavioral patterns learned during the model’s training. Language models are pattern-matching systems. Apparently when they see ‘Bob,’ to draw from practical and straightforward associations, while ‘Buck’ seems to activate more assertive, direct patterns. The name becomes a contextual prime that shifts which learned behaviors the AI draws from.

So what are you calling your AI? Because you’re not just picking a name - you’re designing how it shows up.

More soon!

• AI
• Collaboration
• Names
• Behavior
• Identity
• Sparkle