The empathy setting in Outset’s AI moderator gives you control over how emotionally expressive or neutral the moderator is during interviews. While our AI is always designed to feel conversational, this setting lets you fine-tune how much the moderator “echoes” participants’ answers and responds with warmth or neutrality. This article explains what the empathy setting does, when to adjust it, and how it affects the phrasing of follow-up questions.
1. What the empathy setting controls
In your guide settings, the “AI-interviewer style” section includes options for configuring both follow-up frequency and empathy level. These two dimensions combine to shape the moderator’s tone and behavior.
The empathy setting specifically affects:
How warmly the AI acknowledges answers (e.g., neutral vs. enthusiastic)
Whether it reflects back sentiments or key phrases from the participant
The degree to which it sounds encouraging or emotionally attuned
You can choose from the following combinations:
High follow ups, high empathy (default)
High follow ups, low empathy
Low follow ups, low empathy
There is currently no “low follow ups, high empathy” option.
2. Examples of high vs. low empathy
Here’s how the setting changes the moderator’s response style.
Suppose a participant answers the question:
“How would you rate your satisfaction with your most recent stay at a hotel?"
With high follow ups, high empathy, the responses might be:
1 out of 5: “I see, a 1 out of 5 is quite low. Could you tell me more about what aspects of your stay led to that level of dissatisfaction?”
5 out of 5: “That’s great to hear! What were the main things about your stay that made you feel so satisfied to give it a top rating?”
With high follow ups, low empathy, the same answers would trigger:
1 out of 5: “Can you tell me more about what made your recent hotel stay less satisfying and led you to give it a 1 out of 5?”
5 out of 5: “What were the main reasons or experiences during your stay that made you give it a 5 out of 5?”
As you can see, the follow-up logic is preserved, but the low empathy version avoids phrases like “That’s great to hear!” and takes a more neutral tone.
3. When to use high vs. low empathy
Choose high empathy if:
You want the moderator to sound warm, affirming, or emotionally expressive
Your participants are discussing emotional, personal, or subjective topics
You’re aiming for a more engaging and personable user experience
Choose low empathy if:
You need a neutral, unbiased tone (e.g., for more traditional concept testing or satisfaction surveys)
You're working with certain B2B users or professional audiences where emotional mirroring feels off
You want to avoid perceived praise or reinforcement for “positive” responses
For example, some research teams prefer low empathy to avoid biasing participants or giving the impression that certain answers (like a “5” rating) are more desirable.
4. How to change the empathy setting
To adjust the empathy setting:
Go to the Guide tab for your study
Click on the General settings section (on the right)
Locate the AI-interviewer style section
Select the desired option:
High follow ups, high empathy (default)
High follow ups, low empathy
Low follow ups, low empathy
Click Save to apply changes.
Hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please reach out to our team at [email protected] or via chat.