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AI patterns.

AI in Aceve products is an extra apprentice: it handles the paperwork so the skilled work stays human. It is embedded in the workflow, opt-in before default, and it always shows its receipt. These patterns are how that promise becomes pixels.

The frame

Why “apprentice” and not “assistant”.

Embedded, not chatbot-forward

For a master electrician, an AI that replaces judgement is a threat; an apprentice who handles paperwork is a gift. AI surfaces help at the moment of need inside the existing workflow — pre-filled fields, flagged anomalies, drafted texts — not from a chat window that interrupts. An assistant that is everywhere and always talking is an annoying colleague.

Trusted because it's checkable

Our users are accountable for regulated, money-bearing work, so the goal is calibrated trust — rely on the suggestion when it's right, override it when it's wrong. That only works when output is verifiable: sources shown, uncertainty visible, and a way back from every action. Trust that can't be checked is just persuasion.

Earn autonomy

Suggest → draft → act. One rung at a time, never skipping.

RUNG 1
Suggest

AI proposes; nothing changes until the user acts. The default for every new AI capability.

Gate. Ships opt-in. Becomes recommended only after sustained acceptance.
RUNG 2
Draft

AI produces a first version — a quote line, an invoice text — that the user edits and approves.

Gate. Requires demonstrated reliability at the suggest level, and a visible diff against what the user would have done.
RUNG 3
Act

AI completes a step on its own, within explicit boundaries the user set.

Gate. Explicit opt-in per workflow. Every action logged, every action undoable, escalation to a human always one tap away.

The same staging applies to rollout: every AI capability ships opt-in, becomes recommended after evidence, and only then becomes a default — always with a way back. See principle 06 and 08 on Design principles.

The AI layer

Seven patterns, in build order: controls → receipts → logs → undo.

Controls

Start, stop, pause. The user decides when the apprentice works — AI never runs without a visible switch.

Receipt card

Planned

Every consequential suggestion shows its work: which documents it read, what it is and isn’t sure about, and a confirm step. No receipt, no action.

AI disclosure label

Planned

AI-generated content is marked as such — visibly for people, machine-readably for systems. Required, not optional.

Confidence indicator

Planned

Uncertainty is shown in words a tradesperson can act on — never a bare “87%”. Low confidence looks different from high confidence.

Activity log

What the AI did, when, and on whose approval — reviewable after the fact. The audit trail is a feature, not a compliance chore.

Undo / rollback

Every AI action can be reversed. If a workflow can’t offer undo, it doesn’t get past the suggest rung.

Escalation to human

A clear path from “the AI is handling this” to “a person is handling this” — for the user’s judgement, not as a failure state.

The three marked planned are tracked on the component coverage board.

Writing for AI features

The voice rules apply — outcomes, plainly.

Do
"Get paid faster"
Don't
"LLM-powered insights"
Why
Outcome language. Users buy results, not models — same rule as the rest of the voice system.
Do
"AI suggests, you confirm"
Don't
"Auto-applied changes"
Why
The user is the senior; the model is the junior. Consequential actions need a human-confirm step.
Do
"Inline, at the moment of need"
Don't
"A chat panel on everything"
Why
Chat is a feature, not an architecture. Help belongs inside the workflow, not in a separate window demanding attention.
Do
"“Based on 3 similar projects”"
Don't
"“Confidence: 87%”"
Why
Show evidence the user can verify. A bare percentage is noise dressed as precision.

EU AI Act — a design standard, not a legal afterthought

Article 50 transparency obligations apply from 2 August 2026.

Users must be told when they are interacting with an AI system, and AI-generated content must be marked in machine-readable form. With customers across the Nordics, DACH and Benelux this is a product requirement for every Aceve surface. The disclosure label and receipt patterns above are how we comply by design — the law and the trust strategy point the same direction.

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