POV: AI NEEDS MASCOTS, AND ONLY HUMANS CAN MAKE THEM

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

AI companies are increasingly turning abstract technology into approachable characters, with mascots such as Muse, Dots, Claw'd, and Notion's animated face giving unfamiliar systems personalities people can understand and relate to. Anthropomorphism satisfies human desires for connection and predictability, while animation can turn a few simple shapes into a character that appears to think, hesitate, search, greet, and react. The strongest mascots become storytelling systems rather than logos with arms, requiring human skills such as observation, empathy, timing, humor, restraint, and a coherent sense of personality.