Irati Hurtado

Linguist in Conversational AI | Language Data Analyst | Conversation Designer

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I’m a designer with a background in linguistics, currently working as a Conversational AI Designer at Replicant. I specialize in creating intuitive, user-centered digital experiences—whether through voice, chat, or content-driven interfaces.

I started out in academia, where I explored the psycholinguistic dynamics that shape human conversation. This foundation deeply informs my current work: translating complex language patterns into practical, human-centered design solutions.

Over the years, I’ve designed digital experiences for sectors like finance, healthcare, retail, and hospitality, and I’ve worked across a range of environments, from early-stage startups to large tech companies. My experience spans conversation design, content design, and product thinking, always with an eye on usability, clarity, and user needs.

As a Spanish–English bilingual and certified translator, I’ve also led multilingual design efforts, especially for the US and LATAM markets, making sure the user experience feels seamless no matter the language.

Outside of work, I enjoy writing blog posts that explore the intersection of language, tech, and design. When I’m not designing or writing, you’ll probably find me cooking, working out, or off exploring a new part of the world.

I’m always happy to connect with other folks in design and tech. Feel free to reach out!


Projects


Latest Posts

Feb 6, 2025

Can LLMs understand emojis?

Emojis are graphic symbols or ideograms that represent not only facial expressions, but also ideas and concepts. Emojis are extremely popular worldwide, primarily in chat and social media. They can appear as an additional element in the sentence, as in "I liked the cake 😊", or replacing a word, as in "I liked the 🍰". From the perspective of large language models (LLMs), emojis are interesting because they convey a semantic as well as a pragmatic meaning. Read more

Nov 15, 2024

Talking to machines: A brief history of chatbots

Chatbots, although a trendy product now, have existed for decades. Advances in AI have transformed chatbots from simple and rule-based systems to more complex and sophisticated conversational agents. Let’s dive into the history of chatbots, from their beginnings to the modern AI-driven companions we see today. ELIZA: The first chatbot (1966) ELIZA was the first chatbot, developed by professor Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT. ELIZA was designed to mimic a psychotherapist, responding to users' messages with pre-defined responses using pattern matching. Read more

Jul 2, 2024

Do LLMs have a personality?

Personality is the enduring set of characteristics or qualities that form a person’s distinctive character. The science of personality has been long studied by psychologists, and multiple tests have been designed to assess personality constructs. Interestingly, many of these tests follow a linguistic approach, since they are based on a factor analysis of the language used to describe behavior. For example, if someone says they like to “have everything organized and planned”, that would correlate with a conscientious personality trait. Read more

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